aac inst hbook - customs and traditions

7/23/2019 AAC Inst Hbook - Customs and Traditions

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/aac-inst-hbook-customs-and-traditions 1/104

AACCADET INSTRUCTOR’S

HANDBOOK

CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS

2006



AAC Cadet Instructor’s Handbook – Customs and TraditionsFebruary 2006

THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY BLANK




AMENDMENT CERTIFICATE

1. Proposals for amendments or additions to the text of this publication should be made throughnormal channels to the sponsor. To facilitate this, there are amendment proposal forms at the back of thispublication.

2. It is certified that the amendments promulgated in the undermentioned amendment lists havebeen made in this publication

Amendment ListNumber Date

Amended By(Print Name and Initials)

Date ofAmending




PREFACE

Aim

1. The aim of this publication is to provide information on military customs and traditions for cadets.

Level and Scope

2. The publication is not the source document but is an extract for use by the Australian Army Cadets (AAC). Itcontains the information required to describe military customs and traditions. It has been produced by theTraining Cell, HQ NT AAC BN.

References

3. This publication should be read in conjunction with other publications and documents.

Gender

4. Words importing gender refer to both male and female unless specifically stated otherwise.




CONTENTS

Amendment CertificateContents

Introduction

CHAPTER 1. Rank in the Australian Army

Australian Army badges of rank 1.01The Officers 1.02Other ranks 1.09Lance corporal 1.11Corporal 1.12Bombardier/lance bombardier 1.13Sergeant 1.14Staff sergeant 1.15Warrant officer/Sergeant major 1.16Lieutenant 1.20Captain 1.22

Major 1.23Colonel 1.24Brigadier 1.25General 1.27Field marshal 1.29The private ranks 1.30The adjutant 1.31The commission 1.33Warrant officers and warrants 1.35

CHAPTER 2. Dress of the Australian ArmyThe lanyard 2.01The Aiguillette 2.07The slouch hat 2.09

The pugaree 2.10Gorget patches 2.26The pace stick 2.29Canes 2.31Swords 2.33Unit colour patches 2.40

CHAPTER 3. Ceremonial Traditions of the Australian ArmyThe Parade Ground 3.01Holding ground 3.01Feu-de-joie 3.05The 21 gun salute 3.08The salute 3.17

Present arms 3.23Point of war 3.25Inspections 3.29Advance on review order 3.35Colours 3.39Standards and guidons 3.63Battle honours 3.66Trooping the colour 3.78Consecrating the colours 3.71Laying up the colours 3.79Beat retreat, last post, tattoo and reveille 3.89The RSM’s sword 3.96The commanding officer on the march past 3.97

Freedom of entry 3.98Drum head service 3.101The catafalque party 3.109




CHAPTER 4. Other Information on the Australian ArmyThe Australian army 4.01ANZAC day 4.09The Australian army’s birthday 4.14The mess dinner 4.16Medals 4.22Mentioned in despatches 4.33The digger 4.35The unknown soldier 4.97

Identity discs 4.55Flag stations 4.59The pioneer sergeant of 4 RAR 4.631 RAR shovel 4.66The Australia imperial force 4.67The lance 4.68Regiment army formations 4.76Battalion 4.79Squadron 4.82Troop 4.83The governor-general’s baton 4.84Staff-cadet Casey 4.86Honorary colonels and colonels commandant 4.88Volunteers and militia 4.94Gunners and sappers 4.96Gunners 4.97Sappers 4.98Other ranks 4.100Rank and file 4.101Mascots 4.102The waterloo dinner 4.106Mess bells 4.107

CHAPTER 5. Barracks and Lines of the Australian ArmyBarracks and lines 5.01

CHAPTER 6. Corps and Regimental Badges of the Australian ArmyCorps and regimental badges of the Australian army 6.01The Australian army badge 6.15

CHAPTER 7. Badges of Corps and Regiments since Disbanded or AmalgamatedReserved

CHAPTER 8. Unit Formations

CHAPTER 9. Military Skills, Trade and Other Badges




Introduction

Many of the Australian Army’s customs have been handed down from the British Army butthis is to be expected. Most of life’s customs are traditionally passed down through the family connectionand the Australian Army is no different, for it was conceived from the British Army and is therefore family.

Nevertheless these customs have served the Australian Army well over the years and haveproven their worth; they are now as much a part of our Army as they are of the British Army. In many wayscustoms are the valuable foundation of a unit or a corps; they are the esprit-de-corps, and they cannot be counted

in terms of dollars; they are far more important than that. In the words of a famous general of the 1990s“....customs and traditions install a sense of belonging in the lives of young soldiers.”

1 A custom is a practice,

a mode of behaviour or, it could be said, a particular way of acting in a given set of circumstances; a tradition is thepassing down over time of a custom.

This book is presented in nine chapters. The first deals with the rank system within the AustralianArmy touching on some special appointments such as the regimental sergeant-major (RSM) and theadjutant. The second chapter describes some of the many items and embellishments of dress within the Army,whilst the third chapter examines the background to the Army’s ceremonial traditions. Chapter 4 explainsmany of the Army’s customs and other ‘odds and sods’ that are part and parcel of the Australian Army’severyday life.

Chapter 5 covers the origins of barrack and unit names. Here I have dealt with some names inmore detail than others and there are a couple of reasons for this. Where there is a name that is well known,or where it is easy to track down other publications dealing with a particular name, I have just touchedupon the origin, however, if the subject is rather obscure I have provided some basic backgroundinformation. The various battles and areas of operations are stories in themselves and are far too complicated tobe briefly described here. The idea is to give the reader a background to the name, not a history of it.

Chapter 6 describes the current corps and regimental badges of the Australian Army (including avery brief corps/regimental background history to each corps/regiment). Again the aim is not to go into the full andsometimes complicated history of the corps or regiment but simply some explanation to their origins. Theseventh chapter shows the badges of corps and regiments which have over the years been removed fromthe Order of Battle. It also lists the many infantry regiments which have been either disbanded oramalgamated into various state infantry regiments.

Chapter 8 deals with the unit and formation emblems of the Army. These are not headdressbadges but they appear on unit signs and documentation. The final chapter covers the trade and militaryskill badges worn on the Australian Army uniform.

In putting together this information I would like to thank the following for allowing me topublish extracts from various articles and publications:

Colonel R.J. Margetts (the Director of Infantry): the Infantry Centre’s “Military Traditions andCustoms”; Kaye & Ward: Major Lawrence Gordon’s “Military Origins”; Gale and Polden: Major T.J. Edwards’“Regimental Badges”; Colonel R.W. Howell, (the Directorate of Military Studies): John Mordike’s “An Army for aNation”; Brigadier P.J.F. Painter (the Royal Artillery Institution): Major D. Rollo’s “Gun Salutes”; the Ministerof Public Works and Government Services, Canada (1997): E.C. Russell’s “Customs and Traditions of the

Canadian Armed Forces”; and Colonel J. Bastiaan: “The Australian Unknown Soldier” (After the Battle);

I would also like to thank the following for their advice and assistance:

The Australian War Memorial (especially Mr Gary Oakely); the School of Armour; LieutenantColonel Adams of the Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps; Mr Gary Moss for his drawing skills; Major M.H.McCombe of the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps; Sir Conrad Swan and his staff at the College ofArms; Mrs S.K. Hopkins of the National Army Museum, Chelsea; Mr R.G. Button of Wilkinson Sword in London;Mr David Fletcher of The Tank Museum, Bovington; the Army Historical Branch of the British Ministry ofDefence; Warrant Officer Class One (RSM) Jack Selmes and his warrant officers and NCOs from theCorps of Staff Cadets, Royal Military College, Duntroon; Lieutenant Colonel A.A. Sillcock; Warrant OfficerClass One (BSM) Steve Hladio; Sergeant Phill Vavasour, Corporal Darren Hilder and especially Sergeant JasonSilsbury for the majority of the photographs; the many corps and unit regimental sergeant-majors,

adjutants, and independent sub-unit sergeant-majors for supplying me with information; and WarrantOfficers Class One (RSMs) John Wilson, Steve Griffiths, Anthony Reid and Clem Russell, LieutenantColonels Mike Phelps and Greg Molyneux, and Squadron Leader Rowley Tompsett.




A very special thanks to warrant Officer Class One (RSM) Brian Boughton, LieutenantColonel Don Lowe, Majors Gary Matherson and Dale Bradshaw and Brigadier Peter Kilpatrick for theirinvaluable guidance, advice, support and assistance.Any mistakes of fact within this publication are solely mine.

CHRISTOPHER JOBSON




CHAPTER 1

Rank In The Australian Army

Australian Army Badges of Rank

1.01 The matter of badges of rank is anything but simple, particularly when dealing with the officers, andcould very easily be the subject of a book in itself. Well into the latter part of the last century, for example,there were different badges of rank for corresponding ranks within different corps. The aim here, however,is to simply give a very brief summary on the history of the badges of rank and then cover the origin of each rankindividually.

The Officers

1.02 Going back to the late 18th century, the different styles of epaulettes worn by officers were inthemselves badges of rank. However, by 1803 subalterns were wearing a single gold bullion epauletteon their right shoulders. It was decided to change what was then the lieutenant’s epaulette bullion tassels to acoarse gold fringe, in order to differentiate between a lieutenant and a captain.

1.03 During the period 1822-1855, all general officers wore the same badge of rank, that of a crossedsword and baton but the means of telling the different levels of generals apart lay in their coat buttons. A majorgeneral wore two rows of buttons with ten buttons in each row grouped in pairs. Both a lieutenant generaland a general wore two rows of nine buttons, with the former having his buttons in groups of three and thelatter, evenly spaced. In 1855 a major general wore a star, a lieutenant general a crown and a general wore both acrown and a star. A major’s badge of rank was a single star.

1.04 The officers star (commonly referred to as a ‘pip’) is the Star of the Knight Grand Cross of the MilitaryDivision of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, which bears the motto TRIA JUNCTA IN UNO (THREEJOINED INTO ONE)

1, meaning the union of England, Scotland and Ireland. Prior to 1830 the badge of rank was the

Star of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.

1.05 This was followed by more changes; the badge of rank for a colonel became a crown and a star, for alieutenant colonel a crown, and in the case of the artillery, both a captain and a lieutenant wore a silver gunners

grenade.

1.06 In 1864 the colonel’s badge of rank changed yet again, this time to a half inch (13 mm) wide gold lacepattern around his collar, in addition to a silver embroidered crown and star. In the same year the badge of abrigadier general was the same collar design as a general, but with no other embellishments. Over theperiod 1855-1880, the badges for generals were a star for a major general, a crown for a lieutenant generaland a general wore both a star and a crown. During the same period a major wore one star.

1.07 Another change came in 1857 with a colonel, a lieutenant colonel and a major wearing, respectively,a crown and a star, a crown, and a star; all on a collar surrounded with gold lace and cord. Captains wore a crownand a star and lieutenants wore a crown, both on a collar topped with gold lace and cord on the top only.

1.08 1880 saw more changes which have more or less remained constant over the last one hundred years. A

field marshal retained his crossed batons, wreath and crown, which came into being in 1736. All generals wore acrossed sword and baton with the addition of a crown and a star for generals, a crown for lieutenant generalsand a star for major generals; however, a brigadier general wore no additional embellishments. Colonelswore a crown and two stars, lieutenant colonels a crown and one star, and majors wore a crown.Captains wore two stars, lieutenants wore one star and 2nd lieutenants wore no badge of rank at all. In 1902captains and lieutenants gained an additional star each (now three and two) and 2nd lieutenants wore one star. Therank of brigadier general was abolished in 1921 to be replaced by that of brigadier and this badge of rank became acrown and three stars.

The Other Ranks

1.09 The badges of rank for warrant officers and NCOs were not quite so confusing; however, there weredifferent badges for both trades and ranks. There were, for example, three classes of master gunners;

there were bandmasters, regimental quartermaster sergeants and provisional staff sergeant-majors; therewere also sergeant trumpeters, to name but a few.




1.10 The master gunners 1st class and 2nd class, the staff sergeant-major 1st class, the bandmaster, andthe warrant officers class one (those who did not fit into any of the previously mentioned positions) were allwarrant officers class one. Whilst it could be said that this is not too different from today (master gunners,RSMs, and some bandmasters, are all warrant officers class one), at least at present all these differentpositions wear a common badge of rank.

The Ranks

Lance Corporal

1.11 The word ‘Lance’ means just that. In days past mounted soldiers were considered superior to thoseon foot. When unhorsed in battle, the lance which the ex-mounted man carried, indicated his superiority andgave him certain prestige. From ‘lance-man-of-foot’, as he was called, comes the modern ‘lance’ rank.

Corporal

1.12 Corporal is derived from the French ‘caporal’, which was originally Italian (capodi) meaning headof a section. The current style of wearing the chevrons by NCOs dates back to 1802 when an instruction wasissued in the British Army laying down the style in which ‘stripes’ were to be worn.

Bombardier / Lance Bombardier

1.13 The most junior NCO in artillery was referred to as bombardier, which is derived from an artillery piececalled the Bombard (used at the Battle of Crecy in 1346, the first battle in which the English employed artillery).There were problems with the Bombard and at times they could be just as deadly to the detachments as to theenemy, for they were known to blow up as the charge was ignited. Therefore the dangerous task of firing thepiece fell to the most junior NCO; hence the rank bombardier. In 1924 the Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery didaway with the rank of corporal and replaced it with that of bombardier; the new rank of lance bombardier was thenintroduced.

Sergeant

1.14 The term sergeant dates back centuries to the English feudal system when landowners used serfs fromthe fields to fight battles. The sons and personal servants of the landowners were also employed but asa mark of respect they were put in charge of the serfs and others with a lesser station in life. These sons andservants became known as ‘servientes’, from the Latin ‘to serve’. In time the term became sergeant.

Staff Sergeant/Colour Sergeant

1.15 The rank of staff sergeant was often given to the eldest son of the most powerful of thelandowners and he was selected to carry the Coat-of-Arms into battle. The banner bearing his heraldic devicewas raised on a pole or a staff. The rank of colour sergeant was introduced into the British Army in 1813 as theprotector of the ensign and the Colour. There is no such rank in the Australian Army except at the Royal MilitaryCollege Duntroon, where it is a rank within the Corps of Staff Cadets. The escorts in a Colour Party areoften staff sergeants and for ceremonial occasions, when Colours are on parade, they are referred to as the coloursergeants.

Warrant Officer (Sergeant-Major)

1.16 The regimental sergeant-major (RSM) is the senior soldier within an organisation (ie. a regiment, battalion,brigade, division or command) and he works to and advises the commanding officer, or commander. He isresponsible for discipline, dress and all ceremonial aspects of life within that organisation. In the field he is alsoresponsible for the re-supply of ammunition. The RSM is the custodian of the unit’s customs and traditions.

1.17 The title sergeant-major was originally the rank of today’s major and denoted the staff officer of aregiment. The title fell into disuse towards the end of the 17th century when the word ‘sergeant’ was deletedbut in 1797 it was decided to post the senior soldier of units to the headquarters and thus the appointmentof sergeant-major was officially incorporated into the establishment of the British Army. Over the yearsthe title was further defined by the addition of the word ‘regimental’.

1.18 In the early 1800s the sergeant-major wore four chevrons and by the 1840s the crown was added to thetop of the chevrons. In 1881 sergeant-majors were given warrant rank and the badge of rank was a crownwhich was worn on the cuff.




In 1917 the rank of warrant officer class one was established with the Royal Coat of Arms designated as the badgeof rank. The crown was reallocated to warrant officers class two. In the Australian Army the badge for warrantofficers class one was replaced by the Australian Coat of Arms in 1976. The position of RSM is anappointment, not a rank; however, all RSMs are warrant officers class one.

1.19 The position for wearing the badges of rank of warrant officers changed from the lower forearm to themid-upper arm at the end of 1996. It should also be noted that the correct terminology is ‘warrant officer class 1’ or ‘2’,not 1st or 2nd class, and warrant officers are not NCOs, they are officers who hold a warrant.See also: ‘Warrant Officers and Warrants’

Lieutenant

1.20 The word comes from the French ‘lieu’, meaning ‘in place of’ and the Latin ‘tenant’, meaning ‘holding’ (onewho holds the place of, or deputises for, another). A lieutenant is the rank below a captain, and deputises for him.The rank of 2nd lieutenant came into being in 1871 replacing that of ensign (or cornet in the cavalry). Therank was phased out of the Australian Regular Army in 1986.

1.21 Both lieutenants and captains were referred to as subalterns, whilst majors and above were of ‘fieldrank’ but today the term subaltern generally refers only to lieutenants. There is some argument as to the originof the word; some sources say that it is derived from the French, meaning ‘inferior to, or subordinate’.

Captain

1.22 Captain is the oldest of all military titles. It is from the Spanish ‘captain’ which in turn was derivedfrom the Latin ‘caput’, the head.

Major

1.23 The rank of major is discussed under the sub heading of warrant officers.

Colonel

1.24 Colonel denotes the superior officer of a regiment. The term is derived from the Italian ‘colonello’, alittle column; so called because he led the ‘little column’ at the head of a regiment (presumably theRegimental Headquarters). A lieutenant colonel ‘deputises’ for a colonel (see: Lieutenant).

Brigadier

1.25 At the end of World War I the British Government told the British Army that it had too manygenerals and that they were to be reduced in numbers. The Army did just that; it removed the word‘general’ and was left with fewer generals and, at the same time, had created a ‘new’ rank.

1.26 The rank of brigadier general was abolished in the Australian Army in 1921, and it was eventuallyreplaced by that of brigadier in 1929. In the interim titles such as ‘colonel-in-command’, ‘colonel-of-staff’and ‘colonel-commandant’ were used for officers posted into that level of command.

General

1.27 There has always been some confusion about the different levels of generals, in particular over the matterof a lieutenant general being senior to a major general. However, the definition of ‘lieutenant’ explains how alieutenant general ‘deputises’ for a general and is therefore senior to a major general.

1.28 During the (English) Civil War the Parliamentary Army was commanded by a “captain general”(see Field Marshal ), the cavalry was commanded by a “lieutenant general” and the infantry wascommanded by a more junior general called a “sergeant major general”. In time the word “sergeant” wasdropped (see Warrant Officers ).

Field Marshal

1.29 The rank of field marshal came into being in 1736 when it replaced that of captain general. The title of captain

general was re-introduced in 1950 by His Majesty King George VI, when he expressed his desire to have his titleof Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Regiment of Artillery changed. Today Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is theCaptain General of the Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery.




Field Marshall General

Major General




Brigadier Colonel

Major Lieutenant Colonel




Captain Lieutenant

2nd Lieutenant




Warrant Officer (the RSM of the Army) Warrant Officer Class 1

Other Ranks’ Badges of Rank

Warrant Officer Class 2 Staff Sergeant




Sergeant Corporal / Bombardier

Lance Corporal / Lance Bombardier




The Private Ranks

1.30 The title of the private soldiers in most corps and regiments within the Australian Army is Private; however,there are some exceptions:

Royal Australian Armoured Corps TrooperRoyal Regiment of Australian Artillery GunnerRoyal Australian Engineers SapperRoyal Australian Corps of Signals Signaller

Australian Army Aviation Corps TrooperRoyal Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers CraftsmanAustralian Army Band Corps MusicianSpecial Air Service Regiment TrooperRegional Force Surveillance Units Patrolman

The Adjutant

1.31 The adjutant is an appointment usually given to a senior captain (however, at times it has beenassumed by subalterns or even majors) which confers no additional rank. The duties of the adjutant in barracksconsist of attending to the commanding officer’s correspondence, the issue of orders to and by his unit, thekeeping of officer duty rosters etc. Orders signed by the adjutant are considered to be those of thecommanding officer for whom he is really the scribe and mouthpiece; he is the CO’s principal staff officer.On operations he is also responsible for the running of the unit command post.

1.32 Static units such as garrisons, depots and Army schools also have adjutants whose barracks dutiesare, to all intents and purposes, the same.

Commission

1.33 A Commission, from a military point of view, is a document authorising the holder to performduties in the service of the State. Commissions are granted by the Governor-General on behalf of the Sovereignand the recipient, in the military sense, is ranked as an officer.

1.34 An officer cannot have his Commission revoked except by authority from the Sovereign or theSovereign’s representative (ie the Governor-General). An officer retains a commission for life (technicallyofficers retire, although they may resign their commission, and soldiers take discharge).




Warrant Officers and Warrants

1.35 Warrant officers are not NCOs, they are officers by warrant, as opposed to officers byCommission or Non-Commissioned Officers. Warrant Officer is the rank between commissioned officersand non-commissioned officers (NCOs). Commissions were originally granted by the Sovereign toofficers who, in turn, could appoint juniors to help them carry out their commission.

1.36 Initially authority was given to grant Warrants to certain selected personnel giving them authoritywhilst performing a particular duty. When it was finished the Warrant expired, so warrant appointments only

lasted for a particular campaign. The Sovereign delegated the authority to the Commander-in-Chief togrant these Warrants.

1.37 On 20th January 1879, Clause 26 of the (British) Army Circulars was issued. This gave authority tothe Secretary of State for War to appoint, by Warrant, “...such officers whose relative position in the Army wassenior to all NCOs but inferior to commissioned officers”. Shortly afterwards the Airey Committee on ArmyReorganisation handed down a number of recommendations which included “...the institution of a classof warrant officers...”.The Secretary then set in place “...a class of warrant officers intermediate betweencommissioned officers and NCOs. This class [is to] include all RSMs and other sergeant-majors”.

2

1.38 The urgent needs of the Great War resulted in the introduction of an additional level of warrant officer in1915 and warrant officers were from then on identified as either Class 1 or Class 2. On promotion toWarrant Officer Class 2, the soldier was presented with a Warrant and he was presented with another on hispromotion to Class 1. This practice ceased in 1938, with Army Order 155, and from that time on the one Warrantcovered both ranks.

1.39 Today in the Australian Army a Warrant is granted under the authority of the Defence Act of 1903.Warrants were signed by the Chief of Personnel; however, they are now signed by the Chief of Army.

2. British Under Secretary of State for War letter dated 24th February 1881




CHAPTER 2

Dress of the Australian Army

The Lanyard

2.01 The lanyard had a genuine purpose in war. It was originally a piece of cord approximately a metre inlength, used to secure a jack-knife which was issued to both the artillery and the cavalry. The knife had a

number of uses. The blade was for cutting loose horses which became entangled in the head and heelropes of the picket lines, and the spike of the knife was used as a hoof pick for the removal of stones fromhorses’ hooves. A fuse key was also attached to the lanyard.

2.02 Hanging loose, the lanyard soon became dirty and for the day-to-day barrack routine it looked out ofplace on an otherwise smart uniform; so for peace-time purposes the lanyard was plaited and blancoedwhite to match both the white bandolier and the white waist belt worn by the gunners of the day. The lanyardwas worn on the left shoulder with the end, containing both the knife and fuse key, tucked into the left breastpocket.

2.03 In 1920 the lanyard was moved to the right shoulder, simply because of the difficult problem of trying toremove the knife from the pocket behind the bandolier. By now the bandolier and the belt, worn with battledress, had ceased to be white whilst the lanyard remained so. The knife was removed in 1933 and thelanyard then became a straight cord worn purely as an ornamental item of dress. In 1955 it was, for a shorttime, re-introduced in the plaited style but it quickly went back to the straight lanyard currently worn today.

2.04 All corps wear the lanyard on the right shoulder with the exception of ‘A’ Field Battery of the RoyalRegiment of Australian Artillery and the battalions of infantry regiments who wear their lanyards on the leftshoulder (‘A’ Field Battery simply chose not to change in 1920; there is no truth to the story of the Prince of Walesauthorising the Battery to wear the lanyard on the left shoulder for services to himself and the Empire). Theinfantry regiments use different coloured lanyards on the left shoulder to identify their various battalions.

2.05 As time has passed, other corps and units have adopted the lanyard as an item of dress, wearing it intheir own appropriate corps colours. It is interesting to note that a good many gunners today still wear alanyard, to which is attached a modern version of the clasp knife, in the field.

2.06 There is another item of dress which is often confused with the lanyard and that is the aiguillette. Theaiguillette was originally a piece of cord worn by the cavalry, with the sole purpose of tying-up bundles of forage.

The Aiguillette

2.07 The aiguillette is a series of plaited cords worn over the shoulder and looped up to the breast with the endscapped by metal tags. The origin was a piece of cord used for tying-up bundles of forage by cavalrymen. In thecourse of time aiguillettes became increasingly decorative and decreasingly useful, until finally they wereworn only as a mark of distinction by officers on ceremonial occasions.




2.08 Today they are worn on ceremonial occasions by officers of the General Staff, their MilitaryAssistants (MAs), Aides-de-Camp (ADCs), other selected officers such as escort officers for visiting foreignsenior officers and military attaches.

An officer wearing the aiguillette in the post of an ADC

The Slouch Hat

2.09 The story of the ‘Hat Khaki Fur Felt’ goes back to 1885 to the Victorian Mounted Rifles. TheCommanding Officer, Colonel Tom Price, had his soldiers turn up the right-hand side of the hat so thathis troops, when marching past on ceremonial parades, could (to quote the “book”) ‘look the inspectingofficer in the eye’. The style was picked up by the remainder of the Australian colonial armies in 1890. In timethe sides changed with the brim being turned up on the left to assist in small arms drill.

The ‘Slouch Hat’ in the general duty (side up) positionThe Pugaree

2.10 The pugaree takes its name from the Hindu ‘pagre’, meaning a turban or thin scarf of muslin. Thepugaree was worn around the hat, sometimes falling down behind to keep the sun off the neck. It has in its timebeen worn on the Slouch Hat in many forms but during the First World War a plain khaki cloth band was worn andthis style continued until 1929. In 1930 new pugarees were introduced with different coloured folds denoting Armsor Services. During the Second World War a flat pugaree was issued to the Second AIF. The troopsserving in the middle east introduced a folded pugaree as a distinguishing mark of active service and in time thisstyle has become the pugaree of today (it is said that the seven folds in the current pugaree represent thesix states and the territories of Australia; well, it’s a nice story anyway).

2.11 Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment, wear a jungle green pugaree. It wasintroduced into the Unit during the Battalion’s service in Malaya over the period 1959-61. A local tailor, MrMohavved Beseek, was contracted to supply the Unit with pugarees and he did so, making them out of BritishArmy jungle green shirts.

1

1. 1 RAR Regimental History p.2




Chin Strap

2.12 The cadets at the Royal Military College Duntroon wear the chin straps on their hats with the buckleson the right-hand side of the face. This custom goes back to the death of Major General Sir William Bridges atGallipoli in 1915. Bridges was the founder of the College and it is said that when he was shot he had his hat onback-to front. In respect the cadets at the College turned their hats around (it is also said the General had thetwo buttons in the back vent of his greatcoat undone, hence the tradition at RMC, when the coat was in service, ofthe undone buttons).

Emu Plumes

2.13 During the Great Shearers Strike of Queensland in 1891, the Queensland Mounted Infantry werecalled out to aid the civil powers. The QMI patrolled the Western Plains and to defeat boredom the trooperswould ride down the emus which, at that time, were in great abundance. It was the Gympie Squadronwhich first seized on the idea of wearing the feathers in their hats, a design said to be attributed to LieutenantGeneral Sir Harry Chauvel. Before the strike was ended the entire Regiment was wearing them.

2.14 By the early days of the First World War all the Queensland regiments of the Light Horse werewearing the feathers in their hats but in 1915 a non-Queensland brigade, the 3rd Light Horse Brigade, arrived inEgypt wearing the plumes. After a dispute the Minister for Defence, Senator Pearce, ruled that all units of theAustralian Light Horse would wear the plumes. Today they are worn by all members of the Royal AustralianArmoured Corps.




The Black Beret

2.15 Members of the Royal Australian Armoured Corps proudly wear a black beret in preference to thestandard Army-issue blue beret. The origin of the “black hat” goes back to the latter days of World War I.

2.16 During a British Army Tank Corps dinner held at Bernicourt in 1917, a discussion was held bysome officers with regard to what type of uniform the new Corps would wear with the eventual coming ofpeace. It was decided to adopt the ‘beret Basque’ which was at the time being worn by the Chars d’Assaut (theFrench tank regiment). The opinion was that the beret, which was black, hid oil stains and was

considerably more practical for use with tanks than the khaki peaked cap or the leather helmet. After somedebate a suggestion was put forward to, and approved by, HM King George V in March 1924; however the blackberet is only worn, in the British Army, by the Royal Tank Regiment. The Royal Australian Armoured Corps wasgranted approval to wear the beret in August 1944.

2.17 The Australian Army and a number of corps within the Army have since adopted colours other thanblack for their head-dress (eg. The Special Air Service, the commandos, the Military Police to name only a few) butit was the Armour Corps who made the initial change to the beret head-dress.

An RAAC warrant officer wearing the black beret

The Sam Browne Belt

2.18 The Sam Browne belt was invented by General Sir Samuel James Browne, VC, when he was alieutenant colonel serving in India in 1858. During action Browne received two sword cuts; one was across the kneeand the other severed his left arm.

2.19 From that time onwards Browne found difficulty in drawing his sword from the belt then in service dueto the loss of his arm, so he devised a belt which had a supporting shoulder strap. The belt also had asecond shoulder strap for use when wearing a pistol. The design was eventually adopted by the BritishArmy during the Boer War and was later taken up by other countries (apart from the countries of theBritish Empire; it was also worn by numerous armies and police forces around the world including theUnited States, Germany and France).

2.20 The black Sam Browne worn by armoured units (and by the Aviation Corps, who see themselves as thecavalry of the air) is purely an Australian tradition, in keeping with the black beret. Members of the RoyalAustralian Army Nursing Corps also wear the black Sam Browne.

2.21 Today, in the Australian Army, the belt is worn by officers and warrant officers class one onceremonial occasions and it is also worn daily by both adjutants and RSMs (except when wearing combatuniform).




Wearing the Sam Browne Belt

The Infantry Scarlet Sash

2.22 The Australian Army Infantry Corps adopted the scarlet sash worn by warrant officers class two andsenior NCOs from the British Army which has been wearing it since the 17th century. Some were worn aroundthe waist, whilst others were worn over the shoulder.

2.23 The sashes were used as badges of rank. However, it is said that they also had a practical purpose,originally being used to drag the wounded from the battle field. Legend also has it that because they becameblood stained it was decided that they would be coloured scarlet so as to ‘hide’ the blood stains.

2.24 The British Regiments of Foot had officers wearing silken sashes over the left shoulder and seniorNCOs wore worsted sashes over the right shoulder. Today in the Australian Army general officers andofficers holding certain appointments wear sashes around their waist when dressed in Ceremonial Dress.Infantry warrant officers class two, senior NCOs and senior cadets at the Royal Military College Duntroon, wearthe scarlet sash when on parade, in mess dress and when carrying out regimental duties.

2.25 There are many tall stories told in messes about the scarlet sash and its cords (or tassels). Stories of thecords range from their representing British Army campaigns or Army line regiments to their use for countingcasualties on the battle field. None of these are true and are often used to leg-pull the newly promoted sergeant.




Gorget Patches

2.26 The gorget was originally a piece of armour worn around the neck. When the wearing of armour fellinto disuse, the gorget continued to be worn as a badge of rank by officers when on duty. By the time of its abolitionin the 1830s it had become merely a small decorative half-moon shaped plate suspended from the collar bycords or ribbons attached to two buttons.

2.27 In the course of time the patch of cloth, button and small cord which had supported the gorget became inthemselves a distinction, to be worn on the collar in a variety of colours to indicate the wearer’s position on the

Staff, and were commonly called ‘staff tabs’.

2.28 Today they are still worn, in scarlet, by full colonels and brigadiers (with a central line of silk gimpin the same colour as the patch) and by generals (with a central line of gold oak-leaf embroidery). Seniorofficers in the Medical Corps wear a dull cherry patch, Chaplains Department wears purple, and Dental Corpshave burnt orange.

The Pace Stick

2.29 The Royal Regiment of Artillery was the originator of the pace stick. It was used by gunners to ensure

correct distances between guns on the battle field, thus ensuring the appropriate effective fire.

2.30 The original stick was more like a walking stick, with a silver or ivory knob. It could not be manipulated likethe modern pace stick as it only opened like a pair of callipers; the infantry then developed the stick to itspresent configuration as an aid to drill.




2.31 Swagger sticks were introduced as an item of commissioned rank equipment in the time of KingCharles I (early 17th century) but were used for a much more serious purpose than they are today. At that time all junior officers were empowered to inflict punishment on soldiers for minor offences. Misdemeanours suchas sneezing in the ranks, spitting or scratching one’s head earned immediate punishment to the tune oftwelve strokes across the back.

2.32 The item is now an optional piece of equipment that may be carried by officers, warrant officers and seniorNCOs. In the majority of cases officers carry a leather covered cane whilst the canes of warrant officers andsenior NCOs are either wood or bamboo.




Swords

2.33 There are four types of sword in use within the Australian Army. They are the swords worn bygenerals, the cavalry sabre, and the artillery and the infantry swords.

The Mameluke Sword

2.34 The general’s sword or, to use its correct title, the Mameluke sword, is a simple design with no pommel (theknob of the sword’s hilt or handle). It is a copy of the Turkish or Egyptian ‘shamshir’, a curved slashing cavalry

sword. Mamelukes were a group of Turkish soldiers romanticised in Victorian England; hence theassociation of the name with the design.

The Cavalry Sabre

2.35 The cavalry sabre worn by the Royal Australian Armoured Corps and the Australian Army AviationCorps is the British Army’s 1912 model. This design, with a fully enclosed ‘bowl’ guard, was seen as the bestbetween the cut and the thrust type sabres.

The Gunner’s Sword

2.36 The Gunner’s sword was introduced into the Royal Artillery in 1788. The Royal Horse Artillery thoughtthe infantry sword of the day was too heavy and was “... good neither for cut nor thrust ...’;

2however, the

Light Cavalry pattern sword was preferred due to its”... impetus to the slash as the mounted man

flanked past his quarry’.3

The 1822 Light Cavalry sword incorporated a three bar hilt which assisted inmaking the sword even lighter. The sword underwent some more changes in 1850. The blade of thesword is slightly curved.




The Infantry Sword

2.37 The current Infantry sword is the British Infantry pattern of 1895. The blade has a flat back and aneven taper to the cutting edge, so that it is in the form of a wedge.

2.38 The sword knot, or leather loop, hangs free on the Cavalry and the Artillery swords; the user would slipthe strap over his hand and wrap it around his wrist so that he would not drop and lose the sword whilst in use.The infantry found the dangling knot inconvenient so it was wrapped around the guard to keep it out of theway.

2.39 The handles of military swords are covered in shark skin. The skin was introduced because it is a non-slip material and thus ensured that the user didn’t lose his grip when both his hand and the weapon becamecovered in blood.

Unit Colour Patches

2.40 It is thought that the unique Australian Army system of colour patches may have been inspiredthrough the South African Boer War (1899-1902) where some British Army units wore small clothpatches in colours or tartans, appropriate to their regiments, on the pugarees of their pith helmets. In late 1914 anAIF Order provided small flags, nine inches square (23 cm), to be used to mark headquarters and unit lines. Thesedifferent coloured flags, with some minor changes, were to become the basis of the 1st Division’s colour patches.

2.41 A 1st Division Order issued in Egypt in March 1915 stated: ‘In order to better distinguish the several units ofthe Division, coloured patches of cloth will be worn on the sleeve one inch below the shoulder seam. Except incases of Headquarters of Brigades and the Divisional Artillery, the Engineers and Army Medical Corps,badges will consist of two colours, the lower indicating the formation, the upper the unit etc. Light Horse (4thLight Horse) and Artillery will be divided diagonally, the others horizontally’.

4 Later the same year a Divisional

Standing Order amended the patch detail for the gunners to one patch for all Divisional artillery.

2.42 Each brigade within the Division was allocated an identifying colour patch, and this system wasthen extended to other organisations within the Division. The patches within the Division were worn atthe top of both sleeves of the uniform and, as other divisions of the AIF were formed, they too wereallocated distinctive divisional shape patches. Overall about 300 colour patches were authorised for theArmy in World War I.

2.43 At the outbreak of World War II, and with the raising of the 2nd AIF, it appears that many newly raisedunits may have initially been authorised to adopt the patches of their numerical forebears of the Great War butsome units just went ahead and did so without authority. This resulted in a significant number of units,particularly the infantry battalions, wearing colour patches completely unrelated to those of their 1st AIFnamesakes. This problem was corrected in late 1940 with the issue of an appropriate instruction.

2. D. Alastair Campbell The Dress of the Royal Artillery p.933. Brian Robson Swords of the British Army p.1504. The Aust ralian Army Colour Patch Register 1915-1949 p. 2-1




2.44 The colour patches of World War II were backed by a grey border and as the War continued new shapescame into being; for example, the T-shaped patches of units within the 9th Division in 1943 (whichcommemorated the major part played by the Division in the siege of Tobruk). By the end of 1944 some 800colour patches had been introduced into the Army during the War. A small number of patches were alsoapproved for units of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force for Japan in both 1945 and 1946. TheAustralian colour patch system was discarded in 1949 in favour of the British Army style of shoulder titles.

2.45 The colour patch was re-introduced into the Army in 1987 and the British Army style shoulder title wasphased out by the end of 1996. Units which could trace their lineage back to either World War I or World War II

were granted permission to adopt the appropriate patch (some claims are, however, somewhat shaky). Thesepatches came to be referred to as the ‘Series I’ colour patch system, as it was then decided to put patches onevery unit and organisation within the Army. In 1996 the ‘Series II’ patches came into service; these were largelybased on corps, and in some cases unit, colours. The colour patches are no longer worn on both shoulders, as wasthe case in the past, but are now positioned on the right-hand side of the pugaree on the ‘Slouch’ Hat.

2.46 A number of the patches of both World Wars were worn on the shoulders as matched pairs;particularly those of the Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery and the Royal Australian Armoured Corps.The patches worn on both the left and the right shoulders looked the same from the front. The patches seen oncolour patch charts, or on flags, banners, signs or on letter heads are the patches worn on the left shoulderand the ‘leading edge’ is facing to the left as seen by the observer. However, the patches that were worn on theright-hand side of the body were a ‘mirror image’ of that worn on the left. This means that any ‘Series I’ patch,that has a ‘leading edge’, is (correctly) worn on the hat ‘back-to-front’ to that seen on charts and signs etc (thereis no ‘leading edge’ with the ‘Series II’ patches).

The AAC Colour Patch

33




CHAPTER 3

Ceremonial Traditions of the Australian Army

The Parade Ground

3.01 After a battle, when retreat was sounded and the unit had re-assembled to call the roll and count thedead, a hollow square was formed. The dead were placed within the square and no one used this area as a

thoroughfare. Today the parade ground represents this square, and is symbolic of a sanctuary for a unit’s dead. It isdeemed to be Hallowed Ground, soaked with the blood of the fallen, and the area is respected as such.

Holding Ground

3.02 The correct terminology for ‘Holding Ground’ is ‘Troops Keeping the Ground’. Today on many unitceremonial occasions the corners of the parade ground have troops in position ‘holding ground’. Thesesoldiers may be equipped with anything from lances to mortars, or even field guns, all facing out. The role ofthese troops is to ‘secure the area’, thereby allowing the unit on parade to ‘safely perform’ its ceremonial duties.

3.04 The tradition dates back to the British Hollow Square (the ‘square’ was just that, a fighting unit linedup in a four-sided formation with a hollow centre; the troops being lined up, shoulder-to-shoulder, three tofour ranks deep). When the troops were resting lines of picquets were placed out, at sufficient distances togive early warning of pending attacks, thereby allowing the battalion or regiment time to regroup and fight off theapproaching enemy.

Feu-de-Joie

3.05 The ceremony of the Feu-de-Joie originated in a demonstration of a new weapon before Her MajestyQueen Elizabeth I. The new matchlock musket had just been adopted as a more ‘reliable and handy’weapon than the cumbersome, then current, wheel-lock piece. The musketeers, having completed thelong and intricate procedures of loading their weapons, placed their forked rests in place and awaited the order tofire a volley. The order was given but the volley did not happen; the matchlock mechanisms only produced aragged series of bangs, one after another, up and down the line of troops. The Queen was far from happy andgave her opinion in some rather strong language which made many wish that they were somewhere else.

3.06 In time Her Majesty changed her mind, as women are inclined to do, and suggested that the rippled firingbe incorporated into a military activity. To ensure an unbroken ripple of fire along the line, troops wereformed-up into three ranks, the second rank firing should the soldier in the front rank fail to ‘make fire’; if bothfailed the third rank came into action. This procedure continued until the introduction of the flintlock, aweapon which was sufficiently reliable to ensure an unbroken chain of fire along the ranks.

3.07 The new ceremony was given the title ‘Joy Sound’; the French Army also adopted the concept forfestive occasions and gave it the name Feu-de-Joie. Today it is often seen at ceremonies such as birthdayparades and at times it has been performed by units of the Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery using105 mm howitzers.




The 21 Gun Salute

3.08 From the earliest days, noise has been used to express joy or to honour esteemed personalities.Even today crowds and audiences still show their approval by shouting, cheering and applauding.Military bodies, however, traditionally express such sentiment with fanfares and gun salutes.

3.09 The gun salute appears to have originated in the early 14th century and there seem to have been tworeasons for it. The first would be for the making of noise to do honour to an important guest. The secondwas the emptying of guns by firing. This was considered a friendly and trusting gesture, as once fired theguns could not be reloaded easily and quickly; hence an honour was bestowed upon the visitor. It was a signthat the visitor was trusted and considered an ally. One would assume that all pieces were fired on suchoccasions and hence the term GUN salute rather than ROUND salute.

3.10 The origin of the salute is one thing but no one knows why 21 guns were selected. The reason has beenlost with time and the custom was not regulated by formal instruction until the early 19th century. It isinteresting to note that all salutes are fired with an odd number of guns; a practice possibly related to asuperstition of the times. Shakespeare wrote “They say there is divinity in odd numbers ....I hope goodluck lies in odd numbers”. In the early days of gun salutes, the Royal Navy fired even numbers for funeralswhilst odd numbers were fired for the living.

3.11 One theory for the origin of the odd numbers comes from the Royal Navy. Warships carried evennumbers of guns (in equal numbers on each side of the ship), however, from the gun decks theapproaching personage could not be seen, so a poop deck gun was fired by a sentry as a signal for thecommencement of the salute. The explanation for the use of odd numbers of guns on land is that the first gun firedwas a station time gun which was fired at midday, the same time as salutes generally commenced.

3.12 The first formal regulations for salutes were developed by the Royal Navy in 1688 but these only dealtwith naval officers. The regulations stipulated 11 guns for a captain, increasing to 19 guns for an admiral.No mention was made of Royalty, but the mathematical progression would lead one to assume that thenext rank would warrant a salute of 21.




3.13 In 1827 the Board of Ordnance issued a circular ordering 21 chambers to be fired for Royal Salutesfrom St James’ Park and 21 guns and 41 chambers from the Tower of London (a chamber was a small piece ofordnance, without a carriage, used for firing salutes). It appears that the Royal Salutes for the accession to thethrone by George IV, William IV, and Victoria were 41 guns “fired at all stations at home and abroad”.

1 The 41

gun salute still remains in force today as the Royal Salute fired from London’s Hyde Park and the 21 guns and41 chambers of the Tower salutes have resulted in the unique 62 gun salute which is the current RoyalSalute fired from the Tower of London.

3.14 An enquiry was held into salutes in 1830 and it was agreed to fix the number of guns for a Royal Salute to

21 (during the enquiry both the Director-General and the Adjutant-General of Artillery noted that “there is noknown principle on which salutes vary”

2). The result was the 1838 Order of Council Regulations which

stipulated the use of 21 guns, except for salutes fired from St James’ Park (which was later changed to HydePark in 1923) and the Tower.

3.15 A number of origins have been suggested with regard to the number of guns fired but enquiries in 1899discussed these and then dismissed them as “fable” and “popular superstition”.

3

3.16 The question cannot be settled and never will be; no one knows why 21 guns are fired for a RoyalSalute. There are, however, special occasions when more than 21 guns may be fired. Jubilees are an exampleand so too are funerals; 56 minute gun rounds were fired for the late King George VI in 1952, one for eachyear of his life.

The Salute

3.17 The exact origin of the military salute has been lost in time but it is believed that it probably originated byshowing that the right hand (the fighting hand) was not concealing a weapon. Another line of thought is thatwhen men-at-arms took to wearing armour, the approaching generals or king would ride forward and, holding the

reins of the horse with the left hand, they would raise the visor with the right to identify each other.

3.18 When a knight or a king wanted to raise an army he would ride around his people to enlist men-at-arms. Only free men were allowed to bear arms and they would show their availability by looking theirking or knight in the eyes (a serf or slave had to bow his head and eyes toward the ground).

3.19 Today this custom is carried out as the Eyes Right on the ceremonial march past and when amarching body of troops pass by an officer.

3.20 The protocol of paying compliments to armed bodies of troops (Armed Corps or Armed Party) alsogoes back hundreds of years. If a lone soldier did not stand fast for a passing body of armed troops and declarehis allegiance, the party would assume him to be hostile and treat him accordingly.

1. Order-in-Council dated 1838

2. P.R. Woodmore Royal Salutes by Guns (Gunner Magazine 1952)

3. Order-in-Council dated 1899




3.21 The sword salute was reminiscent of the Crusader days when the knight kissed the hilt of thesword before entering the conflict. The hilt represented the Cross and the motions of the salute roughlydescribed a Cross. Today some of the motions of the salute have been omitted but the ‘Recover’ is still symbolicof kissing the Cross.

3.22 Whilst drills change with the introduction of new weapons, the rifle salute of today is still based on a drillwhere the salute was the first motion of present arms. A sentry’s salute to an officer of field rank (major to colonel)and above was, and still is, a full salute with the weapon, the ‘present arms’. Junior officers received thepreliminary movement only, hence the rifle, or ‘butt salute’.

Present Arms

3.23 On his return from France to England in 1660 to claim the throne, King Charles II was confronted by ColonelMonks’ Coldstream Regiment. Upon accepting the allegiance of the Regiment (see: Inspections) acommand of ‘Present your weapons for service under His Majesty’ was given. Every man in the Unit heldforward his musket or pike at arms length and at the ‘high port’ position. The order ‘Ground your weapons’ was

given, followed by ‘In His Majesty’s cause, recover your weapons’.




3.24 The King was so pleased with the ceremony of surrendering weapons into his service that he ordered the‘Present Arms’ to be a feature of all future inspections as a mark of respect.

Point Of War

3.25 The Colours of a unit were usually positioned in the place from which the battle was controlled, normally

the centre, whatever the formation might be. This was the nerve centre of what would today be a battalion orcompany headquarters.

3.26 If an enemy could attack the nerve centre successfully, the battle would largely be lost. It was oftenthe enemy’s intention to strike at and seize the Colours in order to destroy the unit’s sense of cohesion andthereby to cause alarm and loss of confidence.

3.27 Every unit took into battle its drummers, buglers (although these were not introduced until late inthe 18th century), fifers (who in the 16th century were known by the expressive word “whiffers”, which is theold form of the word “whistlers”) and any other musician who might make up the band.

3.28 Upon an attack developing, the commanding officer would order the various instruments to be beatenor blown as loud as their players could manage. Thus the attention of the unit was drawn to the fact that

danger threatened the nerve centre, and counter-measures could be employed. This tradition was carried onafter the practice of carrying Colours in battle ceased and the playing of ‘Point of war’ is used today as a salute tothe Colours when they are into position on a parade after having marched on, or before they are marched off.

Inspections

3.29 Many of the ceremonies and customs that play an important part in army life have an origin which wouldhardly be suspected from the manner in which they are performed today. Take, for example, the familiarceremony of Inspection of the Guard of Honour. The inspecting officer arrives and passes along the ranks, insome cases seemingly displaying very little interest in the soldiers he is inspecting. Actually, the ceremonyoriginated in circumstances which compelled the inspecting officer not only to make a close scrutiny ofevery man’s face, but to be ready for an attempt on his life at any moment as he passed along the ranks.

3.20 When King Charles II returned to England to claim the throne, one of the late Cromwell’s superb cavalryregiments decided to switch its allegiance to the King. The regiment was encamped at Reading and onhearing that His Majesty had landed, the Commanding Officer dispatched one of his squadrons to meet the Kingand beg leave to serve under the Crown.

3.31 In a desolate, uninhabited stretch of country, one of the royal courtiers, riding alongside the coach,observed a body of strange troops approaching and at once told the King. As he was not yet sure of thereception he would receive from the populace he instructed a number of his suite to ride forward and ascertain theintentions of the column.




3.32 When contact was made, the Squadron Commander explained the purpose of his mission. TheKing was not a little suspicious, but a lack of courage was not one of his faults. Leaving his coach, andaccompanied by only one attendant, he strode forward to the Squadron drawn up on the side of the road. Charlespassed slowly along the ranks, keenly scrutinising each man’s face to determine his attitude from his facialexpression. Satisfied with his inspection, Charles accepted the Squadron Commander’s offer ofallegiance and ordered him to act as his escort on the journey to London.

3.33 A little later another unit of ex-Cromwellian troops, Colonel Monks’ Coldstream Regiment, beggedpermission to enter the King’s service. On Blackheath Common, Charles subjected them to the same

close scrutiny before accepting them as members of the Royalist Army.

3.34 In making these inspections King Charles little knew that he was establishing a custom that was toendure through the centuries, though it has long ceased to be performed with any vestige of its original purpose.

Incidentally, the two Units mentioned passed into the King’s service and in time became known as the RoyalHorse Guards and the Coldstream Guards respectively.

Advance In Review Order

3.35 Prior to 1788 the tactical training of infantry units was mainly left to the individual commander’s discretion,there being little guidance from superiors. This had obvious disadvantages, namely the capability of each unit was

developed (or not), according to an individual commander’s skill, forethought and thoroughness. Likewise,the task of a general in the field was made more difficult by not knowing the relative capabilities and methods ofhis units.

3.36 In 1788 a manual was produced by one David Dundas, which laid down in detail eighteenmanoeuvres to be carried out by all infantry units. These manoeuvres were designed to combat, in themost effective manner possible, the tactical moves of an enemy both in attack and in defence. Eventuallythey became outmoded and were referred to by Sir John Moore as “Those damned eighteen manoeuvres”

4

but at the time they met a long felt need. Those units most practised in the manoeuvres, able to carrythem out expeditiously and with intelligence, became the most formidable and were the foundation of thesupremacy of the British Infantry on the Continent. Every unit had to perform these manoeuvres each yearbefore a reviewing general in order that their efficiency and preparedness might be judged.




3.37 As an enemy was finally defeated by offensive action, the eighteenth manoeuvre was the attack in lineand consisted of an advance followed by a volley to the right and a volley to the left, with a further advancefollowed by two volleys to the front. At the annual review the Colours were then brought to the front, the unitadvanced fifty paces and finished the review by presenting arms to signify that the manoeuvres had ended andthat they had been carried out with no offensive spirit towards the reviewing general. It is this last manoeuvrewhich is nowadays, as part of a great tradition, known as the Advance in Review Order.

3.38 Consistent with its origins, the Advance in Review Order, is usually the last movement of the paradeprior to dispersal. The Colours are in the centre where the whole attack was controlled by the

commander and are brought to the front out of the ranks before the final phase. Therefore the troopsdressing is on the centre; the men having to maintain their alignment in order that the enemy, trying to drive awedge in the line, would have to cope with at least two men at a time, one on either side of him, as opposed to one ifthe dressing were lost. It was done in two or more ranks so that any gaps in front caused by casualties could besealed immediately from behind and the line preserved. Ranks were in the open order position so that,when the volleys were fired, the leading rank could lie down, the second rank kneel, and the third, if there wasone, could stand. The extent of the advance was controlled from the centre and broadcast along thelines by beating drums, thus accomplishing three major tasks. Firstly it signified the start and finish of theadvance; secondly, the rate of the advance, in order that the long line might not waver; and thirdly, the progress ofthe battle, for it should be remembered that, in the swirl and dust of battle, the Colours might not easily beseen. Therefore, any change in tempo of the drums would immediately strike the senses, with the result thatall would know that the centre was threatened and be prepared for counter measures.

Colours

3.39 Colours are a symbol of the spirit of a unit, for on them are borne the battle honours and badges granted tothe unit in commemoration of some of the gallant deeds performed by its members and the association ofColours with heroic deeds has caused them to be regarded with veneration. In a sense they are the epitome ofthe history of the unit. The full history of a unit is contained in written records but as these are not portable in aconvenient form the Colours, emblazoned with distinctions for long and honourable service, are something in thenature of a silken history, the sight of which creates a feeling of pride and espirit in soldiers and ex-soldiers.To trace the origin of the custom of carrying Colours one must go back to the days of early man when hefixed his family ‘badge’ to a pole and held it aloft in battle for the dual purpose of indicating his position inthe action and as a rallying point should the need arise. Caesar’s troops marched behind the Roman eaglevexilloid and medieval chivalry followed the same idea when they placed their armorial bearings on their bannersso that they would ‘float on high’ well above the melee. When armies were beginning to adopt a system ofregimentation at the start of the 17th century, each company was allotted a Colour, a custom whichpersisted for a hundred years. In 1661 during the reign of Charles II, when the British Army as we know it todayfirst began to take shape, the number of Colours carried by a unit was reduced to three to correspond with thetechnical arrangements of a battalion for battle. A Royal Warrant dated 13th February of that year accordinglyauthorized the newly raised Foot Guards to have twelve stands of Colours.

3.40 An attempt to standardise a practice of producing Colours peculiar to a particular regiment was made in1689 but it was not until September 1743 that a Royal Warrant decreed the practice of each battalion havingonly two Colours, a practice that exists to this day. Another Royal Warrant of the time made it clear that aregiment, though still in some respects the colonel’s own possession, was part of the King’s Army.

3.41 The order further stated that of the two Colours to be carried, the first or King’s Colour as it was sooncalled, was to be the Greater Union (the Union Jack). The second, or Regimental Colour, was to be of the samecolours as that particular regiment’s facing, with the Union in the upper canton (except in the case of thoseregiments whose facings were either red or white, then the Colour was to be white with a red cross of SaintGeorge over its entire surface, having a small Union in the upper canton).

3.42 Those regiments which had the privilege of bearing Royal devices were to have the number of theregiment placed towards the upper corner. The Colours at this time, and for a hundred years after, were verylarge, fully five feet (1.5 metres) ‘on the pike’ and six feet (1.8 metres) ‘on the fly’, as opposed to modern Colourswhich are three feet (.9 of a metre) ‘on the pike’ and three feet nine inches (1.1 metres) ‘on the fly’; in other words:three feet by three feet nine inches.

4. Infantry Centre Military Traditions and Customs p. 4-1




3.43 Those regiments whose duty it was to skirmish ahead of the main body, where speed andconcealment were essential, did not carry Colours. These were rifle regiments, which is the reason whytoday in the British Army they do not carry Colours (yet Australian rifle regiments do). In the cavalry thecounterparts of rifle units are the lancers and the hussars and they do not carry Standards or Guidons forthe same reason.

3.44 The Foot Guards observe a custom which dates back to the new model of the Commonwealth. Inthose 17th century days the field officers of a regiment were the colonel, the lieutenant colonel and thesergeant-major (today’s major) and each of these officers had a company. The colonel’s Colour was ‘plain’ (ie.

it had no devices upon it to denote the rank); the lieutenant colonel’s Colour was basically the same asthe colonel’s except that it had a small Saint George’s Cross in the upper canton nearest the pike-head;the sergeant-major’s was similar to that of the lieutenant colonel’s but it had a ‘pile wavy’ in gold issuing from thelower inner corner of the Saint George’s Cross. These distinctions are still observed in the Queen’s Coloursof the 1st, 2nd, and the 3rd Battalions respectively of the Foot Guards.

3.45 When carried into battle the Colours were positioned in the centre of the front rank where they could beeasily seen and recognized, and they could act as both a guide and a rallying point. There is no doubt that theirpresence in battle had a significant morale effect. The Colours were carried in companies and they were borneby the youngest officers whose rank was ensign (the company officers in those days were a captain, alieutenant and a number of ensigns and when the two Colours of a regiment were carried the duty ofbearing them was divided among the ensigns).

Pre-1969 Queen’s Colour(The Royal South Australia Regiment)

Post-1969 Queen’s Colour(2nd Battalion, The Royal

Australian Regiment)

3.46 As the importance of a victory was generally gauged by the number of guns and stands of Colours thatwere captured, the Colour Party became an obvious target and hence the scenes of the most bitter hand-to-handfighting. This resulted in a very high rate of mortality amongst the ensigns because as one fell another ensignwould pick up the Colour and carry on. With the aim of giving the ensigns some local protection the rank ofcolour sergeant was introduced in 1813.

3.47 The escort to the Colour was formed by five colour sergeants. They were chosen from the senior andthe bravest sergeants as they had to stand, armed only with half-pikes, in the most exposed places in the fields ofbattle. The practice of carrying Colours in battle gradually came to an end after 1879 when two subalterns of theSouth Wales Borderers received posthumous Victoria Crosses for their endeavours to save theRegiment’s Colours at the Battle of Isandhlwana. Some historians state that they were last carried by the 58thRegiment of Foot (later 2nd Battalion, the Northamptonshire Regiment) in action on 26th January 1881 at

Laings Nek during the First Boer War, whilst it is also quoted that the 38th Regiment of Foot carried themat the Bombardment of Alexandria in 1882.




3.48 In the past, the Colour Party was expected to fight to the death to defend the Colours and for thesame symbolic reason the Colours are paraded in the centre of the regiment or battalion when on the march,and not at its head. A different custom exists in the cavalry; as their battles were fought around a fixed spotmarked by the Colours their Standard was carried by an NCO, the sergeant-major, and was unprotected.

3.49 Today in the Australian Army the battalions of infantry regiments and the Corps of Staff Cadetseach carry two Colours, the Queen’s (King’s) Colour and the Regimental Colour. The Queen’s Colour ofevery battalion in the Australian Army was the Union Jack. In the centre of the Colour there was a crimsoncircle surmounted by the Imperial Crown and upon the circle, inscribed in gold, the gazetted title of the

regiment; within the circle, in Arabic numbers, was the battalion number.

3.50 In regiments titled Royal, the base colour for the Regimental Colour is dark blue and for other regiments itis dark green. The Colour bears a device, centrally placed, comprising the regimental badge or crest,embroidered in gold or silver as appropriate, on a crimson background. The badge or crest itself ismodified by omission of the title of the regiment, the regimental motto and any wreath or crown incorporated inthe design. A crimson circle surrounds the badge or crest upon which is inscribed, in gold, the gazettedtitle of the battalion.

3.51 The centre device is encompassed within a wreath (in the case of Australian Colours it is a wreath ofwattle) which is tied with a gold knot at the bottom centre, and the whole is surmounted with the Crown. In additionthe motto of the regiment (embroidered in gold on a crimson scroll) may also appear on a Colour, along withthe regimental colour patch (without the grey background).

3.52 The design of the badge or crest for inclusion in the Regimental Colour is normally, but notalways, based on the head-dress badge. The normal badge or crest may already incorporate the gazetted orterritorial title, the regimental motto and a wreath and/or Crown. The wreath and the Crown are common to allColours and the titles are inscribed on a scroll borne below the knot of the wreath. To avoid duplication the badge orcrest appearing in the centre device of the Colour is modified by deletion of these items.

3.53 The number of the battalion, embodied in gold, is placed in the top corner near the pike. Arabic numeralsare used for single battalion regiments and Roman numerals for multi-battalion regiments (eg. 5 for the 5thBattalion, the Victorian Scottish Regiment, and III for the 3rd Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment).

3.54 The authorized Battle Honours of a regiment are embodied, in black lettering, on gold scrolls and are felledonto the Colour. The order and position of the Honours on the Colour is as prescribed by Army Headquarters.

3.55 Prior to Federation some units of the Colonies of Australia were presented with Colours. TheseColours were of varied designs and not always in accordance with British Regulations. There is evidencethat eighteen colonial units received Colours, the first being the Royal Victoria Yeomanry Cavalry in 1858and the last the Perth Company of the West Australia Rifle Volunteers in 1896.

3.56 In 1920, silk Union Flags (which were to receive all honours and compliments paid to Colours)were presented to sixty battalions of infantry, the five pioneer battalions and the thirteen Light Horse regiments(that fought as infantry) of the 1st AIF. Most of the Colours which were presented to the infantry battalionswere later converted to King’s Colours by having the crimson circle and Crown added to them. The Colourspresented to the Light Horse regiments were not permitted to be carried on parade after the introduction (tothe Australian Army) of Guidons in 1927 but they were retained by the regiments as “Honourable Insignia” for

‘services rendered’.

5

3.57 The first unit to receive Colours after Federation was the 1st Battalion, the 1st Australian InfantryRegiment in May 1906. The Colours were a gift from the Women’s Branch of the British Empire League butthey were presented without Royal approval. It was not until 1911 that Royal consent was granted forunits of the Australian Military Forces to carry Guidons and Colours.

3.58 The re-organisation of infantry battalions in 1921 and the re-allocation and changes to unit designationand titles necessitated changes in the design of both the King’s and the Regimental Colours. All battalionspossessed a King’s Colour but few had a Regimental Colour. The changes consisted of substituting theterritorial title of the unit with the gazetted numeral title and replacing the regimental badge with the World WarI colour patch.

5. Alfred N. Festberg Australian Army Guidons and Colours p. 53




3.59 In 1960 the Citizens’ Military Forces (now the Army Reserve) was re-organised into StateRegiments and as these regiments were now titled Royal Regiments they were entitled to blueRegimental Colours. Previously there had only been one Royal unit within the reserve, the 6th InfantryBattalion, the Royal Melbourne Regiment.

A Regimental Colour (2nd Battalion,The Royal Australian Regiment)

3.60 In 1969 Her Majesty the Queen approved the design of the Queen’s Colour based on the AustralianNational Flag. The first unit to receive this new design was the Royal Military College Duntroon on 27th April 1970and it was presented by Her Majesty the Queen during her Australian Tour of that year. All Queen’s Colourspresented since have been of this design.

3.61 The guns of the Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery are the Regiment’s Colours. The rallyingpoint for the gunners has always been the guns; the gunners are instilled with the tradition of serving theirguns under fire and to abandon them intact is still the ultimate disgrace. Centuries ago the largest gun in anartillery train carried the equivalent of today’s Queen’s Colour and it was known as the ‘Colour’ or ‘Flag Gun’.In the latter part of the 18th century this practice ceased and the guns themselves became the Colours.

3.62 All guns are the Colours, be they a regiment’s worth (eighteen guns), a battery (six pieces) or a section,which in some cases can be one gun. The Artillery’s Colours are accorded the same compliments and respectas Infantry Colours and the Armoured Corps’ Standards and Guidons. The barrels of the guns manufactured inboth Australia and Great Britain bear a cypher; this practice originated as a method of indicating that thepiece had passed manufacturing inspection and is not related to the guns being the Colours.

Standards and Guidons

3.63 Standards and Guidons are the Armoured Corps’ equivalent of Colours. Standards were only carriedby heavy horse units and today they are carried by heavy armour units (in Australia the only unit to carry aStandard is the 1st Armoured Regiment); Guidons are, in the main, carried by light armoured organisations.For a unit to receive a Standard it must first have had a Guidon for 25 years and have been on operational service.

3.64 The Guidon was considered an easy item to carry due to its small size, and because its swallow-tailed fly allowed it to fly free easily. The heavy units removed the tail making the Standard more square shapedand thereby easily distinguishing them from the light regiments. Within the Armoured Corps, units withStandards take the right of the line on parade over units with Guidons.




3.65 In 1913 approval was granted for the Light Horse regiments of the Australian Army to possess andcarry Guidons but it was not until 1926 that the Military Board published instructions (Instruction A 120) which laiddown the design details, with the first presentations being made to units in 1927. The Instructions werelater amended to authorize armoured units which had converted from Light Horse regiments to carry a Guidonalso. Both Standards and Guidons, like Colours, carry Battle Honours.

1st Armoured Regiment Standard The Guidon of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment

Battle Honours

3.66 The first Battle Honour or Honorary Distinction as it was correctly called, was awarded in the BritishArmy to the 18th Royal Irish Regiment by King William III for its service at the siege of Namur (Belgium; the War ofthe Grand Alliance) in 1695. Thereafter the custom of granting Honours became more common. All the

regiments which took part in the defence of Gibraltar during the Great Siege of 1779-83 were allowed to bearthe title GIBRALTAR. As Battle Honours were gradually introduced, they were placed on clothing and otherappointments such as drums, as well as the Colours.

3.67 A maximum of ten of the Battle Honours awarded prior to the Great War, and all of those won in theWar, are emblazoned on the Regimental Colour. A maximum of eleven Battle and Theatre Honours wonduring the Second World War are authorized to be emblazoned on the Queen’s Colour. For post World War IIthere is no limit to the number of Honours that may be placed on a Regimental Colour and once thatColour is full any additional Honours may be emblazed on the Queen’s Colour.

3.68 Honour Titles are not to be confused with Battle Honours; they are an artillery term and may be grantedto units within the Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery.




The Regimental Colour of the 1st Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment showing boththe Regiment’s Battle Honours and the United States of America Meritorious UnitCommendation (Army), the Americans’ equivalent to Battle Honours

Banners

3.69 The custom of presenting Banners to Australian Army units started with the presentation of twenty King’sBanners in 1904 for service in the Boer War. The Banners were presented by King Edward VII to eighteen LightHorse regiments, the Royal Australian Artillery, and the Australian Army Medical Corps; a further twenty-

three of these Banners were presented to infantry units in 1911. It was stipulated that the Banners presented tothe non-infantry units were not ‘King’s Colours’ but, ‘...Honourable Insignia presented (by King Edward VII) as aspecial mark of favour in recognition of valuable services rendered in South Africa during the 1899-1902war, and that Honorary Distinctions are not to be borne on the Banners’.

6

3.70 There are currently three types of Banners within the Australian Army. They are the Sovereign’sBanner which may be presented to any corps or unit including those with Colours; Banners presented by othermembers of the Royal Family (these may be presented to any corps which does not have an entitlementto Standards, Guidons, or Colours); and the Governor-General’s Banner for training establishments which donot possess a Colour.

Banners are accorded the same respect and compliments as the Queen’s Colours.

The Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery’s Banner of Queen Elizabeth II (Obverse)

The Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery’s Banner of Queen Elizabeth II (Reverse)6. Ibid p.22




Consecrating the Colours

3.71 Before a regiment’s Colours are taken into use they are consecrated at a special religious ceremony.Battle flags have been closely associated with religion from the earliest times. The Israelites carried thesacred standard of the Maccabees, which bore the initial letters of the Hebrew text “who is like unto thee OLord the Gods” (Exodus XVII). In the armies of pagan Rome the ensigns were worshipped with religiousadoration. Pope Alexander II blessed a banner which William the Conqueror carried at Hastings and at the Battleof the Standard in 1138. The banners of St Peter of York, St John of Beverly and St Wilfred of Ripon were erectedupon a wagon and moved with the Archbishop of York and his Yeomen of Yorkshire when they fought the

Scottish clansmen.

3.72 The ceremony of Consecrating the Colours originated in the Middle Ages when there were no nationalstanding armies, each nobleman maintaining his own private army for the protection of his land holdings.

3.73 For purposes of identification each of these armed bands carried a banner on which was featuredthe personal coat of arms of its noble commander. When a male member of the family reached the age at whichhe was entitled to be knighted he was ceremoniously presented with a sword and spurs by the head of thefamily. In the presence of all armed retainers, he was also presented with a small replica of the family banner,termed a bannerette, which, with much solemnity, was first blessed and consecrated by the local priestbefore being given to him.

3.74 When, with the passage of time, these armed bands were merged into a national army controlled by acentral authority of which the reigning Monarch was the head, the ceremony of consecrating the banner wasretained but with the difference that the “Colours” now represented regimental rather than family honour.

3.75 In the British Museum is a 14th century manuscript detailing the form of service for blessing flags, and in1634 it stipulated that the first thing a captain shall do is “to cause his Colour to be blest”.

7

3.76 Regimental histories contain evidence of the consecration of Colours in the 18th and early part of the 19thcenturies but it was not until 1830 that the question of standardising the form of service arose. At that time the thenPrincipal Chaplain to the Forces, Dr Dakins, suggested a form but it does not appear to have been brought intogeneral use. The earliest reference to the ceremony in official regulations appears to be in the Queen’sRegulations of 1867, wherein it was stated that a form of service could be procured from the Chaplain-General’soffice. In the 1899 Queen’s Regulations the ceremony is referred to in greater detail and eventually forms ofservice were devised for use by Protestant, Presbyterian and Roman Catholic regiments.

3.77 The reverential regard to Colours and their association with religion secures for them, on retirement fromactive use, an appropriate resting place in a sacred edifice or public building where they will be preservedwith due regard to their symbolic significance and historic associations. This tradition is also observed by theAustralian Army.

7. Infantry Centre Military Traditions and Customs p. 4-2




Trooping the Colour

3.78 Trooping the Colour is derived from the Roman custom of parading the Military’s crest (the Eagle) each nighton coming into camp. The origin of the ceremony of Trooping was concerned with the lodging of the Colour.As early as the 16th century at least one company’s Colour was always placed in safe keeping in the ensign’squarters, or some other safe place, at the conclusion of a day’s parade or, when on active service, after aday’s fighting. By the 17th century the ceremony consisted of the Colour being displayed from the ensign’s quartersand the battalion would march past so the men would know, in case of alarm, the location of their rallying point.

3.78 The ceremony of Trooping the Colour (not ‘Trooping of the Colour’), originated in 1755 and derives itsname from the musical troop or tune which was played during the ceremony of the lodging of the Colour.Over time the name changed from ‘lodging’ to ‘trooping’. The Colour was now marched along the lines of troopsin slow time with the same aim, “to impress it upon the soldiers’ memories, that they might always recognize itin battle and so know their place and rallying point”.

8

8. Lawrence L. Gordon Military Origins p. 38

Laying Up of Colours

3.79 The fact that Colours have, from the early ages, been consecrated would give them an aspect ofsacredness which could not be wholly ignored when consideration was given to their disposal. In view of thereverence paid them whilst they are in service it is not surprising that care has been taken to ensure that theyultimately repose in sacred edifices or other public buildings where their preservation is ensured with dueregard to their symbolic significance and historic association.

3.80 Originally each leader of a body of troops provided his own Standard, Guidon or Ensign and this wasusually retained by him after a campaign or when it was no longer serviceable.

3.81 Even after the inauguration of the Standing Army in England, the colonel of the regiment providedthe Colours and when these were retired he disposed of them on behalf of the regiment. It was not until 1855that the State provided the Colours for line regiments. An instruction of 1881 stated that “UnserviceableColours, Standards or Guidons will, when replaced, be disposed of as the officer commanding the regimentmay deem fit”.

9 This is an indication that, although the State provided the Colours, they had not, at that time, any

wish to interfere with the ancient right of the colonel to dispose of his Colours. As late as 1896 it is recorded thatColours were returned to the colonel of the regiment.

3.82 There are many recorded incidents of Colours being buried with the colonel of the regiment and one

case where a unit being disbanded (2nd Battalion Kings Regiment (8th Foot) - 1816) brought theColours to the Officers Mess at the conclusion of dinner where they were stripped, cut up so that each officer




obtained a piece and then burnt; the ashes of the Colours and pikes being buried in the centre of theparade ground and an armed sentry mounted over them through the night.3.83 The following appeared in the British Army Clothing Regulations of 1898: “When Standards, Guidons orColours are replaced they remain the property of the State, and should be deposited in some church or otherpublic building. If this is not practicable, officers commanding will submit, through the usual channel, proposalsfor their disposal. No one is entitled to sell old Standards, Guidons or Colours or to deal in them in any way”.

10

3.84 King’s Regulations reprinted in 1945 contained the following: “Old Standards, Guidons and Coloursremain the property of the State. After replacement they will be laid up in a church or other public building; they

will not otherwise be disposed of without War Office sanction. In no circumstances will they be sold or allowed topass into the possession of an individual. If the donor of any Standard, Guidon or Colour has, at the time ofpresentation, made any stipulation regarding its disposal that would conflict with the foregoing instructionsthe matter will be referred to the War Office”.

3.85 Custom in the Australian Army is that Guidons or Colours will be laid up in a place selected by thecommanding officer in the case of an existing unit, or by the last commanding officer or unit association in the caseof a unit not now on the Order of Battle. Selection of the place will be from one of the following (inrecommended order of preference); a local church, a church of the State, a state war memorial, the AustralianWar Memorial, or a civic building.

3.86 It was formerly the practice that ‘laid up’ Colours could not be removed from their resting place andtaken back into service. This has now been modified and the laid up Colours of disbanded or amalgamated unitsmay be retaken into service by those units should they be brought back onto the Order of Battle andprovided the Colours are deemed serviceable.

3.87 This aside, Colours, once laid-up, are left as they are and will, in time, disintegrate (dust to dust); theyshould not be re-conditioned or refurbished.

3.88 The ‘laying up of Colours’ is not to be confused with the practice of depositing Colours for safe custody,such as on mobilisation.

Beat Retreat, Last Post, Tattoo and Reveille

3.89 There is often a good deal of confusion between Beating Retreat and Tattoo. Retreat is the older customand dates back to the 16th century when it was known as Watch Setting.

3.90 Retreat consisted of prolonged drum-beating at sunset to warn the night guard to mount and also togive notice to soldiers beyond the confines of either the camp or the town walls, that the gates were about to closeand that they should return. This drill also signalled to civilians working in the fields that it was time to comeback to the safety of the garrison.

3.91 The custom has its origins too in the days when fighting ceased at sunset; the drum beats signalledthat the fighting was over. The soldiers in the main body of troops would fire three volleys of muskets (for troopswho were far spread and may not hear the drums) and a hymn would be played between the volleys in honour ofthose who had fallen during the day. It was said too that the volleys also ‘put to flight the evil spirits of departedsoldiers’. It was during this time of the evening that the Colour would be trooped; this drill is replaced today by thelowering of the National Flag. It should be noted that the correct terminology is “Beat Retreat” and not “Beat the

Retreat”.

3.92 The ‘First Post’ and ‘Last Post’ came into being in the early part of the 19th century. The ‘First Post’ wassounded as the orderly officer, the orderly sergeant and a drummer (with a bugle) started the Tattoo. They thenmarched from post to post with the drummer beating his drum. Upon reaching the final post the drummer wouldsound the ‘Last Post’; this is why drummers also carry a bugle.

3.93 An alternative theory is that the Tattoo commenced at 9 o’clock, the same time as the ‘warning piece’(gun) sounded. Soldiers then had to be at their beds by 9.30, ‘First Post’, where the orderly sergeantchecked for absentees, and by 10 o’clock, when the ‘Last Post’ sounded, the troops had to be in bed. This wasfollowed fifteen minutes later by ‘Lights Out’.

3.93 There is some conjecture over the origin of the word tattoo but in the main it is agreed that the word is

derived from the old Dutch expression ‘Doe Den Tap Toe’ which freely translated into English is ‘turn off thetaps’. The word ‘Tap Toe’ was used in official books for a long time and gradually gave place to the familiarword ‘Tattoo’. This ‘drum call’ was to get the soldiers back to their billets by having the inn keepers turn off




their beer taps and cease selling liquor.9. Infantry Centre Military Traditions and Customs p. 4-6 10. Ibid p.4-6

3.94 The ‘Last Post’ was really the end of the day (a hard day’s fighting and a hard night’s drinking). This buglecall has been passed down through the centuries in many countries of the world as an accompaniment tothe impressive rites of a soldier’s farewell where the closing bars wail out their sad farewell to the departingwarrior.

3.95 Reveille (from the French reveillez, meaning to ‘wake-up’, which in turn came from the Latinvigilare,‘watch’) was originally played as a drum beat just prior to daybreak. Its two-fold purpose was to wake up the

sleeping soldiers and to let the sentries know that they could cease challenging. It was also a signal to open thetown gates and let out the horse guard, allowing them to do a reconnaissance (clearing patrol) of the immediatearea beyond the walls.

The RSM’s Sword

3.96 The only time an RSM draws his sword is during the Trooping the Colour ceremony. Betweenreceiving the Colour from the Colour Bearer and passing it to the Ensign, the RSM has his sword drawn; he

returns the sword at the completion of the trooping. The custom dates back to Waterloo. On occasionswhen the ensign fell the RSM would draw his sword, then retrieve and protect the Colour, until he could hand itover to a replacement ensign.

The RSM with his sword drawn




The Commanding Officer on the March Past

3.97 During the march past by a unit on parade the commanding officer, having paid his compliments to thereviewing officer, falls out and positions himself on the reviewer’s right. He remains at that position until after themarch past in quick time and then rejoins his men as the unit reforms on the inspection line. This procedure datesback many centuries to the times when the sovereign or the reviewing officer would make comments of theunit on parade for the commanding officer to note.

The Senior Under Officer beside the dais during the parade march past at RMC

Freedom of Entry

3.98 The tradition of Freedom of Entry to a city or shire stems from a custom observed by BritishRegiments in marching through the City of London.

3.99 The Fathers of the City of London claimed that they had the right to forbid bodies of armed troops, whenmarching through the City precincts, to do so with bayonets fixed, Colours flying and music playing. Thisclaim was based on an ‘ancient privilege’ which appears to have originated shortly after Charles II becameKing in 1660.

3.100 This custom has been adopted by many Australian cities and shires. The privilege is only extended tomilitary units; normally those which have had a close association with the city or shire in question. Oncegranted, these units then have the right to Exercise their Freedom of Entry.




Drum Head Service

3.101 Outdoor religious services were conducted for fighting men long before armies were co-ordinatedunder the Crown and long before the advent of bands into military units.

3.102 The most primitive recorded use of the drum indicates that its prime purpose was to banish evil and

undesirable spirits

11

. At a later stage it was realized that the deep resonant note provided an ideal meansof communication between tribal groups over fairly considerable distances. As civilisation developed, thedrum was found to be useful for attracting attention and for maintaining a regular rhythmic beat. Despite itsmodern usage, the drum has never entirely lost its reputation as a pagan instrument. Hence in thechurch drums have never been widely associated with religious music; therefore the piling of drums duringa religious service, which dates back to the 17th century, was seen as a means of ensuring that the drums couldnot be beaten during the service.

3.103 The drums of the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment’s Pipes and Drums are black (sotoo is the Battalion’s lanyard). This is the mourning colour and is out of respect for the late King GeorgeVI; the Unit’s drums arrived on the day of his death, the 6th February 1952.

Funerals and Gun Carriages

3.104 In the time of Henry VIII military bands were not included in establishments but every body offighting men boasted a party of drummers and trumpeters, the former to set and maintain the marching pace,the latter to break the monotony by blowing an occasional fanfare. King Henry directed that these instrumentsshould be employed in the funeral ceremonies of high ranking officers.

3.105 During the 18th century coffins were carried on a bier which was borne by soldiers or officers,depending on the rank of the deceased. Behind them marched a party of drummers playing what was thencalled the ‘Dede Sounde’ (the title of which was, in 1723, changed to the ‘Dead March’ ). This was played to a pacebeat in keeping with the extremely slow rate of progress of the bier party; thus was born the ‘Slow March’ and ‘DeadMarch’ of the present time. Although speedier means of transportation were introduced, the original slow step wasretained as more befitting the dignity of the occasion.

3.106 The procedure followed at grave sides was also inaugurated in Tudor times. After the coffin had beenlowered into the grave, musketeers posted on either side fired three volleys. The firearms of the period,being wheel-locks some six feet (1.8 m) long and about 15 lbs (6.8 kg) in weight, required support in the shape of aforked rest, which was struck in the ground under the muzzle.

3.107 In order to elevate the weapons, firing parties were formed in a kneeling position opposite each otherand, after the volleys were fired, the ‘Last Post’ and ‘Reveille’ were played (in those days ‘Last Post’ took the formof ‘Taps’, which was played at 10 pm each night as a sign for tavern keepers to shut off their beer taps, and‘Reveille’ consisted of a series of long blasts of no prescribed form).

3.108 Gun carriages are synonymous with military funerals but despite popular belief and Hollywood-madehistory this has not always been the case. It was not until the mid-1800s that Queen’s Regulations authorized theuse of a gun carriage and team, when available, to carry a coffin to a burial ground, providing said ground wasmore than a mile (1.6 kilometre) away. Today the carriage and procession combine for the departure from thechurch or chapel and again on the arrival at either the cemetery or crematorium.




11. Ibid p.4-3

A gun carriage at a funeral

The Catafalque Party

3.109 A catafalque is a raised structure supporting a stand upon which a coffin is placed for display beforeburial; people may then file past and pay their last respects to the deceased person. In times gone by a watch orvigil was mounted around the coffin to ensure that the body was not interfered with whilst it laid in State.

3.110 Today vigils or catafalque parties are mounted as a sign of respect around personages as they lie inState and around memorials on occasions of remembrance such as ANZAC Day. In a sense a memorial is a‘symbolic coffin’ for those who have fallen.

3.111 The origin of the tradition of resting on reversed arms is lost in time. It was used by a Commonwealth soldierat the execution of Charles I in 1649 (the soldier was duly punished for his symbolic gesture towards theKing’s death

12) and it is recorded that at the funeral for Marlborough in 1722, the troops carried out a formal

reverse arms drill which was especially invented for the service as a unique sign of respect to the great soldier.The ‘modern trend’ of sticking rifles upside down into the ground as a temporary memorial to a fallen soldier(with a helmet or a hat over the butt) originated with the introduction of tanks. When a soldier fell duringan advance his mate would pick up the rifle and stick it into the ground by the bayonet as a marker toindicate to the tanks that a wounded or dead soldier lay there; to ensure the armoured vehicle would notaccidentally run over the body.

12. Ibid p. 4-8




THIS PAGE INTENTIONALY BLANK




CHAPTER 4

Other Information on the Australian Army

The Australian Army

4.01 If Australia has a Royal Australian Navy and a Royal Australian Air Force, why isn’t there a RoyalAustralian Army?

4.02 The answer lies in the fact that the Navy and the Air Force are homogeneous bodies whilst the AustralianArmy is an elemental organization made up of a number of corps, services and departments. Our Defence Forceis based on the British system where a person can enlist straight into either the navy or the air force but one cannot join the ‘army’. In the United Kingdom a person is enlisted straight into either a regiment or a corps (eg. theRoyal Regiment of Artillery, the Grenadier Guards, or the Royal Corps of Transport) and recruit training is carriedout by that formation. No one joins the ‘Army’ as such.

4.03 The Australian Army’s enlistment procedure is slightly different. Men and women wanting tobecome regular soldiers are enlisted into the Regular Army, trained at one establishment (1st Recruit TrainingBattalion, at Kapooka) and then allocated to a corps. However, people wishing to join a reserve unit areenlisted straight into the corps or regiment of their choice.

4.05 Under the British system, because there is no army as such, corps and regiments may be granted the title‘Royal’ and this principle applies here in Australia too. The title was first granted to an Australian military regimentin 1899, nearly two years before Federation, with the formation of the New South Wales, Victoria, andQueensland Artillery Regiments into the Royal Australian Artillery.

4.06 The Australian Army was officially proclaimed in 1901 when Australia became a Federation and thenew Federal Government took over the responsibility of defence from the States. However, the States’various regiments retained their titles and formations and continued to look after their own recruiting andtraining. In fact many units in the Australian Army can trace their origins back into the 19th century, to theColonial Forces. ‘A’ Field Battery, for instance, is the oldest Regular Army unit, being raised in New SouthWales in 1871.

4.08 The Australian Regular Army was ‘formed’ on the 30th September 1947 from post-war PermanentMilitary Forces, which included ‘A’ Field Battery, 1st Armoured Car Squadron (now 1st ArmouredRegiment) and the 65th, 66th, and 67th Infantry Battalions (re-named the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Battalions ofthe Australian Regiment in 1948).

ANZAC Day

4.09 Many ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) Day customs and traditions haveevolved over the years. A good number of the stories behind these traditions have become blurred by time,and others lost, however, some of the stories behind these ANZAC Day legends have interesting and uniqueorigins.

4.10 The Ode, which is read across the Australian dawn, and well into the morning, is from the thirdverse of Laurence Binyon’s poem “For The Fallen”. This Work has suffered somewhat over time withpeople changing the words. The first line is "They shall grow not old...", not “not grow old”, and the lastword of the second line is "contemn" (meaning: to feel contempt for, or to scornfully disregard), not“condemn”.

1

4.11 Whilst it is said that an ANZAC Day Dawn Service was conducted at Albany, Western Australia, in1923, the Service as we know it today had its beginning at Sydney’s Martin Place Cenotaph. A ‘frail, grey-haired’ woman was at the Cenotaph in the pre-dawn hours of 25th April 1927, and when attempting toplace some flowers on the memorial she tripped and fell. Five veterans, who were on their way home after anight-out at an Australian Legion of Ex-Servicemen Club smoko and had wandered up along the Place, saw herfall and moved across to both help her up and retrieve her scattered flowers. The lady refused to get up,preferring to kneel in prayer instead and one-by-one the five men joined her. One year later the firstofficial Dawn Service was held at the Cenotaph and a wreath to the fallen was laid by George Patterson, one ofthe five from the previous year. The crowd was some 130 strong. From here the Dawn Service spread to allthe capital cities and to many country towns.1. Laurence Bi nyon For the Fallen




4.12 The Cenotaph statues were modelled by Leading Seaman John Varcoe (from Dubbo, who hadserved in both HMAS Parramatta and Pioneer) and Private William Darley (15th Infantry Battalion and 4th FieldAmbulance). The ‘official side’ of the memorial is that facing the Post Office, with the pre-eminent flagposition being the George Street end.

4.13 There are numerous stories as to the origin of the ‘gun-fire’ breakfast but the following snippet, from theGreat War, appears to be the most logical. Following stand-down, after a long cold night in the trenches, thesoldiers turned to their breakfast and an important part of that meal was the ubiquitous cup of tea, which,when possible, was laced with a ‘little something extra’ to give it that added warmth and taste. An unofficial

truce was conducted at this time of day by both sides but at times the lull would be broken by gun fire withsomeone, cheerful from his breakfast, popping-off his machine gun at the other side. It has been said that ‘...ifany one drink won the war it was gun-fire tea; there should have been a banner inscribed with the honour“Tea: 1914-1918"...’

2; or so the story goes.

The Australian Army’s Birthday

4.14 With the coming of Federation on 1 st January 1901, the armies of the various Australian Colonies becameone. The Commonwealth did not officially assume control of these forces until 1st March, hence the birthdate ofthe Army some two months after Federation. The Australian Army was proclaimed as such under Section69 of the Constitution. The new Army was made up of three different types of soldiers; there were 1,500permanent soldiers, 18,000 militia and 9,000 volunteers for a total Army of 28,500.

3

4.15 The actual term of service for the regular soldiers, of the Australian Regular Army, was only approvedby the Minister for the Army on 30th September 1947.

4

The Mess Dinner

4.16 The general collection of customs and traditions observed at dining-in nights, in both officers’ andsergeants’ messes, goes back several hundred years but during that time these customs have beenmodified according to individual regiments’ own traditions and traits.

4.17 The origin of the word mess (itself derived from the Latinmissus ) goes back to France where it wasused to describe a serving of food, in a dish, for four people. In time it was used to describe a group ofpeople who continually sat eating together at a table. Now it is the name used to describe the places whereofficers, warrant officers and senior NCOs eat and live.

4.18 At a formal dinner in the mess, when the meal has been served, the first person to eat is the DiningPresident. This custom dates back to the days of Queen Victoria when, at dinners given by Her Majesty, no oneat the table would start to eat until she, the Hostess, did so. In those days it was also the custom that everyonewould cease eating when she had finished her meal; this presented some problems to those who were servedlater rather than earlier. At one such dinner a certain distinguished gentleman, who had been on thereceiving end of this etiquette once too often, allegedly removed himself from his seat, approached the Queenat the Top Table and in no uncertain terms informed Her Majesty that he had not yet finished his meal, washungry, and intended to return to his seat and finish same. That part of the custom was from then ondiscontinued.

4.19 The custom of drinking the Sovereign’s health (which, at dinners, is toasted after the meal is completed)originated during the exile of Charles II in France. His Royal bodyguard toasted him with the words: “Here’s ahealth unto His Majesty, confusion to his enemies and a safe return to reign over the Kingdom of hisforefathers ”

5. Later, during the reign of the Hanoverian Georges, and with the threat of a Stuart restoration,

the Duke of Cumberland, who was then Commander-in-Chief, ordered that the toast should be always honoured.The Royal Australian Navy, carrying-on the traditions of the Royal Navy, toasts the Sovereign seated; thiscustom dates back to the days when there was little head room in the man-o-wars and standing up for the toastwas both difficult and impractical.

4.20 There are many variations of passing the port, varying from corps to corps and from unit to unit, there is,however, no ceremonially ‘correct’ method of passing the port, except that it is always passed from right to left.

2. Sidney Ro gerson Twelve Days p.66

3. John Mordike An Army for a Nation p.66

4. The Oxford Companion to Austrlian Military History p.74

5. Unkown




4.21 At dinners where pipers have been in attendance performing, the senior piper is invited to the TopTable to receive a Quaich of Whisky from the Dining President. As he accepts the drink he gives a traditionalGaelic toast: “Deoch slainte na ban Righ (Here’s a health to the Queen

6)”.

Medals

4.22 Medals for bravery or participation in campaigns can be traced back to the ancient Egyptians and Romans,where plaques of brass or copper were awarded for outstanding feats of bravery. The first British medals to beissued and classed as such did not appear until 1588 when they were struck by Queen Elizabeth I upon

the defeat of the Spanish Armada. They were made from gold and silver and were fitted with rings andchains for suspension around the neck.

4.23 In 1643 King Charles I awarded a medal for conspicuous conduct to Robert Welch for recovering theRoyal Standard during the first battle of the English Civil War at the Battle of Edgehill. This was the first BritishMonarch to award a military medal for prowess on the battlefield. In 1650 Oliver Cromwell issued the firstcampaign medals which were awarded to both officers and men; the medal was known as the DunbarMedal and commemorated the defeat of the Scots Royalists at Dunbar. This medal also was suspendedfrom the neck.

4.24 The first official war medal of the type we know today was the 1815 Waterloo Medal and it was issued witha ribbon and an instruction stating “... the ribbon issued with the medal shall never be worn but with themedal suspended on it”

7. From this time on, medals were struck for nearly every engagement and later

medals were introduced as honours and awards.

4.25 Today there is some confusion about the difference between Honours and Awards, and Orders,Decorations and Medals. An Honour is an appointment made to an Order (eg. the Order of Australia) whilstAwards cover Decorations and Medals.

4.26 Decorations include the Victoria Cross, the Star of Courage, both the Conspicuous Service Cross andMedal, etc whilst Medals cover the Member of the Order of Australia, the Medal of the Order of Australia (the term“medals’ includes the badges of the 4th and 5th classes of orders and decorations which are worn as medals)campaign, long service and other medals.

4.27 Australia changed from the British Imperial Honours System with the introduction of the Order ofAustralia in 1975 and produced its own service medal for World War II, the Australia Service Medal, andtogether with New Zealand struck the Vietnam Medal in 1964. There is now a wide range of medals inthe Australian Honours System.

4.28 A current popular method of wearing medals in the Australian Army is in the style known as ‘CourtMounted’. This method of mounting has the ribands going back behind the medals and it was designed in theBritish Royal Courts to stop the medals ‘clinking’ against each other as personnel moved about.

Medals mounted loose (left) and court mounted (right)

6. The Scots Guards Volume 2 p.x

7. Infantry Centre Military Traditions and Customs p. 2 -11




Aide-de-Camp

4.29 Aide-de-Camp (ADC) is a French term which originally denoted a military officer attached to acommander as a carrier of his orders to his subordinates. Today the military aspect of his work has beentaken over by staff officers (see: Adjutant). He is in reality a private adjutant to a general officercommanding troops. More junior commanders (eg. brigade commanders) have liaison officers (LO) whoperform the same duties.

Batman

4.30 A batman (originally pronounced bawman) was a person, not necessarily a soldier, paid by thegovernment and allocated to each company when on foreign service to look after the cooking utensils. Eachcompany was also allowed a bathorse (bawhorse) to carry the utensils and the cost of its fodder was alsopaid for by the government.

4.31 When the army was stationed at home the men were billeted at inns, beer-houses, and public houses sothe need for the bathorse disappeared; however, the batmen were often retained as personal servants.Bathorses were discontinued sometime in the 18th century and in time the batman has evolved into thesoldier he is today.

4.32 The role of a batman is an important one because the life of a commander in barracks, but especiallyin the field, is extremely busy and he does not have the time to look after himself. Rest periods, when grabbed,

must be used to clear the mind and recharge the body, for the decision of a commander will determine whowill win or lose, and the lives of his men may be at stake.

Mentioned-in-Dispatches

4.33 Mentioned-in-Dispatches is nowadays an award but it originated literally as a mention of an officer in adispatch by Lieutenant Colonel Stewart dated 10th August 1794. The significance today is that a person hasbeen mentioned for meritorious service and he is entitled to wear an emblem on the medal subsequentlyawarded for the campaign in which the service was rendered.

4.34 The first medal on which such an emblem (in the design of an oak leaf) was authorized to be wornwas the Victory Medal of the 1914-18 War.

The Vietnam Medal with a

Mentioned-in-Dispatches clasp




The Digger

4.35 The nickname ‘Digger’ is attributed to the number of ex-gold diggers in the early army units and to thetrench digging activities of the Australian soldiers during World War I. The actual origin of the name has beenlost in time but the Australian soldier is known affectionately around the world as the Digger.

The Unknown Soldier

4.36 The Unknown Warrior was buried in Westminster Abbey in London on the 11th November 1920 and he

was intended to represent all of those who died for ‘Home and Empire’. The idea of burying an unknownsoldier as a memorial to the dead was conceived by a British Army Chaplain, the Reverend David Railton.During World War I(the ‘Great War’), whilst at Armentieres, he had noticed a grave which bore a pencilledinscription, ‘An unknown soldier of the Black Watch’

8.

4.37 It was not until 1920, some two years after the War, that he was able to put forward his plan for aNational Memorial of an unknown soldier. The bodies of six unknown British soldiers were brought together atthe Chapel at Saint Pol, they came from the battle fields of Aisne, Marne, Cambrai, the Somme, Arras, andYpres. A blindfolded brigadier-general selected a body and it became the Unknown Warrior. The body wasplaced in a coffin of British Hampton Court oak and with a bearer party of five British soldiers, twoCanadian soldiers, and an Australian from the Light Horse, it commenced its journey back home; the fiveremaining bodies were then reburied in the Military Cemetery at Saint Pol. When reburied at the Abbey thebody was laid to its final rest in dirt from Ypres, soil on which so many of his fellow troops had both fought anddied.

4.38 Since that time there had been a longing for Australia to have a separate tomb for its unknownsoldier and it was finally decided in 1991 to bring an Australian digger back from the battle fields of Europe. Itwas planned that the entombment at the Australian War Memorial was to coincide with the 75th Anniversary of theArmistice in November 1918. It was then decided that the soldier chosen should come from France or Belgium, as itwas here, during the Great War, that Australia suffered its greatest losses in war. After negotiationsbetween the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the Australian War Memorial, and withsupport from the Federal Government, permission was granted for a body to be removed from French soil.

4.39 The Soldier was selected from the Adelaide Cemetery at Villers-Bretonneux in northern France. ThisCemetery was chosen because 54 per cent of the graves there are Australian and 117 of these are ofunknown soldiers. 90 per cent of the bodies in Adelaide Cemetery were brought from small graveyardsand isolated positions from the boundary around the town. Meticulous records kept by the Commission, withnotes clearly detailing clothing and equipment buried on the bodies some 75 years earlier, ensured that the bodyselected was an Australian soldier.

4.40 There exists a close link between Australia and the town of Villers-Bretonneux, a village which was thescene of bitter fighting in 1918 and in which the Australians made a significant contribution to its recapture anddefence. In 1938 Australia erected its National Memorial near the village to commemorate the lives of allAustralians who died during the War and ANZAC Day services have been held there every year since. TheMemorial stands on a hill at the rear of the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery and on its walls are inscribedthe names of 11,000 dead Australian soldiers whose bodies were never found.

4.41 The Unknown Soldier was selected from Grave 13 Row M in Plot III of the Adelaide Cemetery and the

remains were exhumed at 8 o’clock on a chilly morning on the 2nd November 1993. A police cordon was placedaround the Cemetery and 20 graves were shielded by a three-metre high cloth screen. The intact skeletal remainswere placed in a copper casket which was then sealed. The casket was then placed in an inner coffinconstructed from Australian timber which in turn was encased in an outer coffin of Tasmanian blackwood.

4.42 At 10 o’clock the coffin was transported four kilometres in a specially-prepared vehicle with aFrench military escort to the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux. Here a French Armybearer party, led by a French piper, carried the coffin up to the Memorial itself. The coffin was flanked by sixceremonial pallbearers; Military and Defence Attaches representing Canada, the United Kingdom, India,South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia. The coffin was placed upon a catafalque and here His RoyalHighness The Duke of Kent, the President of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, accepted the bodyon behalf of the Commission. The coffin was then officially delivered to the guardianship of the AustralianAmbassador.

8. Ibid p. 9-11




4.43 A new bearer party comprising of two warrant officers class one from the Australian Army and twowarrant officers each from both the RAN and the RAAF then took charge of the coffin. This party accompaniedthe Soldier to his final resting place in the Australian War Memorial, Canberra. The coffin, now adorned with theAustralian Flag, a bayonet and a Slouch Hat, was then carried to a room at the base of the Memorial Towerwhere it was protected by an Australian Army Guard of Honour. Later it was moved to the Menin Gate at Ypres fora short ceremony to commemorate the role that Australia played in the defence of Belgium during the War.

4.44 On the 5th of November, the Unknown Soldier, after some 75 years, commenced his final trip backhome on a QANTAS 747 aircraft especially re-named the ‘Spirit of Remembrance’.

4.45 He arrived at Sydney on the morning of the 7th November and was transferred to an RAAF C-130aircraft for transportation to Canberra where the Soldier was laid in state for four days in King’s Hall, in the OldParliament House, and here, for the first time, the Australian public were able to pay their respects.

4.46 On the morning of the 11th November, on a warm sunny spring day, the Unknown Soldier commencedthe final leg of his long journey. The bearer party, flanked by 13 World War I veterans, carried the coffin fromKing’s Hall to a 15 pounder BL gun carriage. The cortege then moved along King George Terrace, acrossCommonwealth Avenue Bridge over Lake Burley Griffin and up towards ANZAC Parade. The bells of SaintJohn’s Church, along with church bells across the country from Broome to Byron Bay rang out a nation’s respectfor the repatriated digger. A field marshal’s complement of 19 minute guns also sounded out across the NationalCapital. The procession moved up ANZAC Parade to the Australian War Memorial accompanied by thecombined bands of the Royal Military College Duntroon and the Australian Army Band Kapooka playing Chopin’s‘Funeral March’, the ‘Dead March from Saul’, and ‘Flowers of the Forest’.

4.47 The Chief Mourner was the Governor-General and the Chief Pall Bearer was the Prime Minister.Official Pall Bearers were the Leader of the Opposition, the Vice Chief of the Defence Force, the Chief of theNaval Staff, the Chief of the General Staff, the Chief of the Air Staff, the National President of the Returned andServices League, and the Vice-Chairman of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Altogetherthere were 32 official mourners including the Mayors of both Villers-Bretonneux and Ypres.

4.48 The route from the Old Parliament House to the Memorial was lined by thousands of people with over25,000 more at the Memorial itself, whilst millions of Australians across the Country followed the proceedingson either TV or national radio.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Australian War Memorial

4.49 Upon reaching the Memorial the coffin was placed on the Stone of Remembrance for theCommemorative Service, during which the Chairman of the War Memorial Council accepted the remains.After the catafalque party withdrew, the Soldier was carried up into the Memorial past the Pool of

Reflection and into the Hall of Memory. The Principle Chaplain for the Army read the Prayer of Committaland the coffin was lowered into the tomb by the same bearer party that had accompanied it all through France.




4.50 Three rifle volleys were fired and after the prayer of dedication the Governor-General placed asprig of golden wattle onto the casket. A ninety-three year old veteran from the War then sprinkled soil fromthe battle fields of Pozieres over the casket; the Ode was read followed by the Last Post and two minutessilence. Finally, at the completion of the ceremony, the National Anthem was played.

4.51 After three days the tomb was sealed with a huge slab of Turkish marble. The face of the slabreads AN UNKNOWN SOLDIER KILLED IN THE WAR OF 1914-1918. The sloping glacis around the tombbears the inscription HE SYMBOLIZES ALL AUSTRALIANS WHO HAVE DIED IN WAR.

Detachments and Crews

4.52 Tanks, armoured personnel carriers, anti-armour equipments, mortars etc are ‘manned’ or ‘crewed’,but guns within the Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery are ‘served’ by ‘detachments’.

4.43 Artillery companies in the early 18th century were pools of trained gunners with no equipment. Whena field army was raised it was issued with the artillery equipment and the gunners were then detached tothe army to serve them.

4.54 Mortar sections within infantry battalions are made up of mortar detachments, and each detachmentconsists of a mortar and its crew

9.

Identity Discs

4.55 Just prior to the American Civil War battle at Cold Harbour US Federal troops were seen writing theirnames and addresses on pieces of paper and sewing them onto the backs of their coats. This was done so that, inthe event of their death, their bodies could be recognised and their fate be made known to their families athome. It is thought that these were the first measures taken for ‘formally’ identifying troops in the event ofinjury or death.

4.56 During the Boer War of 1899-1902, British soldiers started carrying strips of tape in the tunic pockets,however, it seems that soldiers being soldiers, the strips were often misplaced, resulting in a detailed search ofthe seriously wounded and dead to locate them. In 1906 each soldier was issued with a tin disc and given specificorders that it was to be worn around the neck.

4.57 By the Great War soldiers were issued with two discs each; one round and coloured red; the otheroctagonal and coloured green. These discs were stamped with the soldiers name, religion and unit. The red tagwas to be removed from bodies by burial parties and attached to a small bag containing the soldier’s personalbelongings. The tags’ dual purpose was to identify the owner of the contents and at the same time assist inestablishing a record of those killed. The green tag remained with the body for temporary burial, making thecorpse identifiable when exhumed at a later date for proper burial. (Legend has it that the two colours were toassist soldiers in remembering which tag went where; red, the colour of blood, was taken away indicating that

the ‘owner’ was dead and green, the colour of grass, was kept with the body for burial.)9. MLW Pt 2, Vol 5, Mortar Handling Drills & CP Procedures (1980)




4.58 Today the Australian Army’s Personnel Identification Tags are referred to as ‘Number 1 Tag’ (theoctagonal shaped disc) and ‘Number 2 Tag’ (the circular disc) and they are embossed with the title AUST,the soldier’s regimental number, initials and surname, religion and blood group. The circular tag isremoved from the body and the octagonal tag should, given time, be placed inside the dead soldier’s mouthbetween the teeth and the lips.

Flag Stations

4.59 National flags, hoisted and flown from protected locations, were a traditional means of proclaiming

sovereignty. As these sites became established the flags were relocated inside forts and the like, where theflags and the troops protecting them, were more secure.

The Flag Station at the Royal Military College, Duntroon

4.60 By the end of the 17th century forts and castles lost much of their military significance and a RoyalProclamation in 1801 directed that The Union Flag should be flown at all His Majesty’s forts and castles and

worn by all His Majesty’s ships. Due to the gradual increase in production of the Flag over the years, theimportance of these forts and castles or ‘Stations’ tended to be lost. In 1873 a list of British Flag Stations around theworld was included in Queen’s Regulations for the British Army. Regulations required that the Union Flag was tobe flown at these Stations all year round.

4.61 Australia’s first Flag Station was established in 1873 and there are currently 13 Stations around theCountry. All are maintained in Army establishments where, by tradition, they can be protected.

4.62 In recent years with the much wider use of the Australian National Flag, the prominence and thesignificance of these Stations have diminished, nevertheless the Flag Stations still proclaim the Nation’ssovereignty and remain subject to special regulations contained in the Army’s Ceremonial Manual.

The Pioneer Sergeant of 4 RAR

4.63 In 1965 the then Governor-General, Lord De L’Isle, presented the 4th Battalion, the Royal AustralianRegiment (4 RAR), with its Colours. He suggested that the Battalion’s Pioneer Sergeant wear a beard andcarry an axe as is the custom in many British Army units. The tradition dates back to the 18th century when eachBritish infantry company had a pioneer who marched at the head of the regiment. He wore a ‘stout’ apron andcarried an axe which was used to clear a path for all that followed. The pioneer sergeant was also the unitblacksmith and as such wore an apron to protect his uniform and a beard to protect his face from the heat and theslag of the forge. His axe was also used to kill horses that were wounded in battle. The Pioneer Sergeant in 4 RARalso carries a tomahawk on parade in lieu of a bayonet.

4.64 4 RAR is the only unit within the Australian Army with a soldier who is officially authorised to wear abeard. The tradition continued through the period 1973-1995 when 4 RAR was amalgamated with 2 RAR (2/4RAR).




4.65 Outgoing pioneer sergeants have their beard removed in front of the entire Battalion, by theCommanding Officer.

4.66 When the departing Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR), was reviewing his Unit farewell Parade in Korea in 1953, he was disgusted with the standard of thedrill and was reported to comment that he “could have done better with a shovel”. The acting RSM cried out“Prove it”. With this the CO and the warrant officers and senior NCOs headed for the Sergeants’ Mess where theCO, armed with a shovel, was put through a variety of drill movements.

10

4.67 On completion of the ‘display’ the CO ordered that the shovel be packed up and returned toAustralia, where it has remained in the Battalion’s Sergeants Mess ever since. On each new CO’s first visit tothe Mess it is brought out and, armed with the shovel, he is put through a series of rifle drill movements.10. 1RAR Regimental History p.2

A Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment and The Shovel The Lance

4.68 The lance was the principal weapon of the mounted man from the Norman Conquest to thebeginning of the 17th century when it was largely discarded in Europe for some 200 years, before returninginto service toward the end of the 18th century when Napoleon re-introduced the weapon in Europe. Thesuccess of his Polish Lancers and their effect on the infantry prompted the British Army to adopt the weaponfor its own Forces in 1816.




4.69 In 1881 the length of the lance was shortened to six feet (1.8 meters) making it a more convenient weapon;after a variety of blades were tried over the years the three-sided point blade was adopted.

4.70 The Boer War saw the rifle come into favour as the most preferred weapon of the cavalry and thelance was abolished in 1903, being retained solely for ceremonial parades. It was briefly re-introducedinto service as an operational weapon in 1909, however, World War I heralded a change in cavalry tacticswhich eventually led to the lance being abandoned as a weapon of war in 1927.

A warrant officer of the Royal Australian Armoured Corps with a ceremonial lance

The Australian Imperial Force

4.71 The Australian soldiers who served in World War I were all volunteers. Even Regular Armypersonnel had to resign from the Army to join the formation known as the AIF, the Australian Imperial Force. TheForce was raised and named by Major General William Bridges.

4.72 The Defence Act of 1904, which was drafted after the Boer War, contained a provision whichprevented the Australian Government from sending soldiers outside Australia. This Act came aboutbecause, after the Boer War, many parliamentarians were concerned about future Australian involvementin overseas British Imperial operations, believing instead that the Australian Defence Force was purely for thedefence of Australia.

4.73 However, the same Act did contain a clause which allowed Australians as individuals to volunteerfor overseas service in defence of the Empire and it was this ‘loophole’ which enabled the government to raisea force to serve overseas to fight in the Great War (World War I). The same problem arose during WorldWar II, where again soldiers had to resign from the Regular Army to volunteer to serve overseas in a new force,aptly named the 2nd AIF.

4.74 In 1943 the Act was amended to allow the Government to deploy the Militia and conscripted soldiers tothe South-West Pacific Theatre. After the War the Act was completely changed, empowering the AustralianGovernment to deploy the Regular Defence Forces overseas to any theatre of operations.

4.75 The 1st AIF was formally disbanded on 1st April 1921 and the 2nd AIF on 30th June 1947; there will neveragain be an AIF.




Regiment Army Formations

4.76 The word formation comes from the Latinformatio, a term used in the days of the Roman Empire todescribe the disposition of troops going into battle. Today formations in the Australian Army range fromcommand formations through to divisions, brigades (or task forces), regiments, battalions and companies(batteries or squadrons), all the way down to troops, platoons and sections.

4.77 The term regiment, from the Latin regimentum (to rule) has many meanings. In the case of theartillery, the engineers and in armoured units it means a unit made up of sub-units (ie. batteries or squadrons).

However, in the case of the gunners, the Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery itself is comprised of anumber of regiments (regiments within a Regiment, as described in the Paragraph below dealing withThe Battery); yet within the infantry a regiment is an organization consisting of a number of battalions.Before the 17th century the main military unit was the company. In time they were brought together under the rule(or regime) of a single commander; hence the term regiment.

Brigade (to fight).

4.78 The term brigade is French, coming from the Old Italian word brigare

Battalion

4.79 The term battalion dates back to the 16th century. It is derived from the French battaillon, which is

thought to have been a common term used associated with the word ‘battle’. Traditionally the battalion isa unit of infantry made up of several companies and forms a part of a brigade and/or a regiment.

Battery

4.80 The word battery comes from the Frenchbattre (to beat), which is in itself derived from the Latinbattuere.A battery was a fixed fortified structure in which artillery pieces were placed. Artillery in the field, however, weregrouped into troops and companies. In 1722 gunner companies were organised into a regiment and it becameknown as the Royal Regiment of Artillery (see the paragraph above on The Regiment). In the late 1850scompanies of guns became known as battalions, then with another name change they becameregiments. Over the same period troops of artillery came to be known as batteries.

Company

4.81 The term comes from the French compaignie (companion). Towards the end of the medieval periodmercenary bands of professional soldiers were found roaming the land looking for battles and wars to fight; thecaptains of these groups would accept contracts and money was then invested to finance these bands, whichwent on to become known as companies. The soldiers would then share in the resulting profits from plunderand ransoms.

Squadron

4.82 It is said that the term squadron is derived from the Italian squadrone, orsquadro, which in itself isderived from the Latinquadra, a square.

Troop

4.83 The origin of the term troop has been lost in time but it is thought to have come originally from theFrenchtroupe or trope, based on the Latin troppus, a flock. Today troops are subordinate formationswithin artillery batteries and both engineer and armoured unit squadrons. The term troops is also used todescribe the ‘other ranks’ (junior NCOs and private soldiers).

The Governor-General’s Baton

4.84 The silver baton which is carried by the Music Director of the Band of the Royal Military College Duntroon waspresented to the Band in 1979 by the then Governor-General Sir Zelman Cowen. It was presented in recognition of“fine musicianship and to mark the Silver Jubilee of the Band”

11. The Baton is used only on occasions when the

Governor-General is present.

11. Royal Military College The History of the RMC Band




The Governor-General’s Sword




4.85 The ceremonial sword carried by the Under Officer commanding the Sovereign’s Company at the RoyalMilitary College Duntroon, was presented to the College by the then Governor-General, Sir Ninian Stephen, in1988. It was presented as a farewell gift on the occasion of the 15th and final parade he reviewed in hiscapacity as Governor-General.

Staff-cadet Casey

4.86 Legend has it that many years ago, in the past history of the Royal Military College Duntroon, there wasa staff cadet named Casey. Staff Cadet Casey was a member of Fourth Class. Prior to a particular Christmas

leave he was skylarking and managed to lock himself in a broom cupboard. Casey was not missed from theLeave Draft, thus remaining in the cupboard until the Corps returned for duty in the new year.

4.87 Staff Cadet Casey’s skeleton was found but his ghost still haunts the corridors and cavities of the College.He will never graduate but, to appease his spirit, he is present at each graduation ball.

Honorary Colonels and Colonels Commandant

4.88 Honorary Colonels and Colonels Commandant are officers who are appointed to assist in the domesticmatters of a unit, regiment or a corps. They are, in fact, appointed by the Chief of Army. Corps have the option ofadopting either title, Honorary Colonel or Colonel Commandant.

4.89 Their role usually includes fostering esprit-de-corps and taking an overall interest in the general welfareof the unit (regiment or corps). They also assist in maintaining links with similar formations overseas. TheHonorary Colonel or Colonel Commandant may also advise on unit, regimental or corps matters such as charitiesor similar organizations, memorials and customs.

4.90 A Regimental Colonel is an officer who is appointed to assist the Honorary Colonel or ColonelCommandant. This position is also appointed by the Chief of Army.




Representative Honorary Colonels and Representative Colonels Commandant

4.91 Representative Honorary Colonel and Representative Colonels Commandant are officers selectedfrom the list of Honorary Colonels and Colonels Commandant of corps which have more than one to representit. For example the Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery has a Colonel Commandant in each state and one ofthese is selected as the Honorary Colonel Commandant to represent the Regiment as a whole at certainfunctions, or with regard to a particular Regimental matter. The representative is appointed by the Chief of Armyon the recommendation of respective Honorary Heads of Corps.

4.92 The governor of a state, an officer on the retired list who on retirement was a lieutenant colonel orhigher rank, an officer currently holding the rank of lieutenant colonel or higher, may be appointed as anHonorary Colonel or Colonel Commandant. Other people may, in very exceptional circumstances, beappointed to the position.

4.93 A Regimental Colonel may be an officer of lieutenant colonel or above, or an officer on the retired listwho retired was a lieutenant colonel or above.

Volunteers and Militia

4.94 The colonial forces of the country were drawn together in 1901 to form the Australian Army. Theseforces were made up of three different groups; there were the Permanent Forces, the Militia and the VolunteerForces.

4.95 Members of the Militia were paid part-time soldiers whilst the Volunteers were unpaid12

; theVolunteer soldiers of the day had to meet all expenses out of their own pockets. In time the Militia werere-named the Citizen Military Forces and today they are known as the Reserve.

Gunners, Sappers, and Other Ranks

4.96 There are many confusing terms used within the Army and the three most common are gunners, sappersand other ranks. They can, under varying circumstances, mean different things.

Gunners

4.97 The private rank of soldiers in the Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery is gunner but allmembers of the Regiment, regardless of rank, are referred to as gunners. Adding to the confusion, gunnersis also the term used to refer to the Regiment as a whole. In other words, “Gunner Reading reported to the guardroom”, or “General Austen is a gunner”, or “The gunners have served in every conflict in which Australiahas been involved”.

Sappers

4.98 A similar problem with regard to terminology exists with the Royal Australian Engineers.

4.99 Sapper is the rank of the private soldier within the Corps; all members of the Corps are sappers, andthe Corps as a whole is also referred to as the sappers. The term ‘sapper’ relates back to the very early daysof engineers; to sap was to dig siege trenches, or tunnels, under the enemy’s fortifications.

Other Ranks

4.100 The term other ranks may be used in a variety of situations.

Officers and Other Ranks.In this context the term refers to all personnel other than commissioned officers (ie. warrant officers,both senior and junior non-commissioned officers and soldiers of private, or equivalent, rank).

Officers, Warrant Officers, Senior NCOs and Other Ranks.In this context the term refers to the junior non-commissioned officers and soldiers of private, or equivalent,rank.

Officers, Warrant Officers, NCOs and Other Ranks.Here the term refers to the soldiers of private, or equivalent, rank only.12. John Mordike An Army for a Nation p. 1-2




Rank and File.

4.101 This refers to all the soldiers who are formed-up on parade in the ranks (usually the privatesoldiers and the junior non-commissioned officers) and the warrant officers and senior non-commissionedofficers who form-up in files to the flanks of the ranks, or in a separate supernumerary rank (serrefile) behind themain ranks of soldiers. Officers form-up in front of the rank and file.

Mascots

4.102 Armies throughout history, dating back to the Romans, have had animals as pets and mascotsranging in variety from kittens and hens to tigers, camels and elephants. Their reasons for being adoptedvaried from the necessity of comfort (many Russian soldiers of the Crimean War kept kittens buttoned-up insidetheir coats to keep themselves warm) to heroes (according to Roman legend it was the cackling of geese thatwarned the Capital’s defenders of the approaching Gauls).

4.103 Some mascots are adopted by units as a representation of the regimental badge (2nd CavalryRegiment and the eagle), some because of history (the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps and thedonkey - Simpson and his donkey at Gallipoli), and some simply because the animal in question adopted the unit.There are ‘unit-trained’ mascots, such as dogs and horses which can participate in regimental parades, andthere are those which are better off, for all concerned (particularly reviewing officers), housed elsewhere.

4.104 An example is the 5th/7th Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment mascot which is a tiger and iskept at Sydney’s Taronga Park Zoo.

4.105 Unlike the British Army, mascots in the Australian Army are officially recognised. They are given aregimental number and a name, both of which appear on the unit roll. They are registered with the Army’sCeremonial Section and the Soldier Career Management Agency and they can even be officially promoted.As some have discovered, they can also be charged with an offence (a certain ram was charged with havinga female in his lines when a rival battalion slipped a ewe into his pen late one night) and they can bereduced in rank. However, the unit or corps is responsible for all of the mascot’s expenses and wellbeing as public funds are not expended on mascots.

The Waterloo Dinner

4.106 The Royal Australian Engineers’ annual Dinner is known as the ‘Waterloo Dinner’. In 1915 atGallipoli a dinner was held to celebrate the completion of an Engineer task known as Watson’s Pier atANZAC Cove. The date chosen to hold the dinner just happened to be the 18th of June, the 100th anniversary of

the famous battle. The Regimental Dinner, which is still conducted annually, is held as close as is possible tothe original date.




Mess Bells

4.107 A number of messes within the Australian Army, particularly sergeants’ messes, have a bell whichis used to bring the mess members to order for a particular announcement (eg. the arrival of a guest, orperhaps for an announcement by the mess president).

4.108 The bell is usually in the shape and design of a ship’s bell and in some cases that is exactly what thebells are. Two examples are the bells in the Regimental Sergeants’ Messes of both the Royal Regiment ofAustralian Artillery and the Royal Australian Infantry Corps.

4.109 The bell in the gunners Mess is a copy of that from HMAFA (His Majesty’s Australian Fleet Auxiliary)Biloela. Upon de-commissioning in 1930 the crew of the Auxiliary presented its bell to the Garrison ArtillerySergeants’ Mess at South Head in Sydney. This ‘good will’ gesture was promoted by an incident when ateam from the Mess went aboard the Biloela some years earlier for a convivial evening and later departed -with the bell. The Navy viewed the incident somewhat dimly and it was only after the bell was returnedthat harmony was restored; a relationship that lasted to the end of the Biloela’s life.

4.110 The Coast Artillery moved out of South Head in 1953 and the bell then moved across, with theGunners, to North Head, where it was positioned at the top of the parade ground. The bell was rung everyday for Regimental Training Wing’s ‘on parade’ calls. When the Wing moved to Holsworthy in 1969 as 123rdTraining Battery, the bell remained at the School of Artillery but a copy was made and it accompanied theWing on its move across Sydney. When the Battery was disbanded and the Wing returned to the School,the replica bell moved into the Regimental Sergeants Mess.

The Mess Bell in the Royal Military College’s Sergeants Mess

4.111 The bell in the Infantry’s Regimental Sergeants’ Mess is that of the former aircraft carrier HMAS Sydney.The story of the association between the carrier and the Royal Australian Regiment goes back to the Korean Warwhen the Sydney’s aircraft flew in support of the Regiment’s battalions. In later years the Sydney was convertedto a troop carrier and carried all the RAR battalions to and from South Vietnam. During all these years a firm bondof friendship was established through all rank structures between the crews of the Sydney and members of the

Regiment.

4.112 Upon the Sydney’s de-commissioning the carrier’s bell was selected as being an appropriate gift to presentto the Regiment as a token of this long standing relationship. On 14th December 1975 it was handed overon permanent loan to the Infantry Centre to be held in trust for the Royal Australian Regiment.

4.113 There really is no one story behind the ‘tradition’ of ships’ bells in messes; it is just a traditionthat has come about over time, simply because people thought they looked nice in a mess and they are avery good device for getting the attention of all within the mess. Of such things traditions are made.




CHAPTER 5

Barracks and Lines of the Australian Army

Barracks and Lines

5.01 Barracks were first constructed in Britain during the late 18th century and they replaced thesystem of billeting troops out with the local inhabitants. This gave the officers greater control over the soldiers

and at the same time protected them from "the contaminating influences of the lower orders" 1. It was not apopular decision at the time for it was seen as separating the Standing Army from society.

5.02 In Australia the British troops were housed in barracks virtually from the start of the early days ofsettlement. Today barracks are, in the main, made up of a number of units, each occupying an area withinthe barracks known as (unit) lines.

5.03 Both barracks and the various unit lines within barracks are named, in the majority of cases, afterfamous battles or soldiers. As time passes the origins of many of these names are forgotten; here brieflyis their origin. Barracks named after the suburb in which they are located, eg. Randwick Barracks, arenot included.

Barracks

ANGLESEA Marquis of Anglesey, Master of Ordnance (1811)

BARDIA Battle of Bardia; Libya (World War II)

BEERSHEBA Battle of Beersheba; Palestine (World War I)

BLAMEY Field Marshal Sir Thomas Albert Blamey (1884-1951).Receiving a commission in 1906 he landed at Gallipoli on thefirst day, as the intelligence officer HQ 1st Division. On theWestern Front he served as chief-of-staff to General Monash.Between the Wars his postings included Deputy CGS,Commander 3rd Division and Commander 6th Division.

Starting World War II as a corps commander, he wasappointed C-in-C AMF in 1942 and then Commander AlliedLand Forces (South-West Pacific). He was promoted FieldMarshal in 1950.

BOBDUBI Battle of Bobdubi; Papua New Guinea (World War II)

BORNEO Scene of Australian operations (World War II and TheConfrontation 1962-66)

DAMASCUS Scene of Australian Light Horse operations; Syria (World War I)

D'AMOUR Town liberated by the 25th Brigade; Syria (World War II)

JEZZINE Scene of Australian operations; Syria (World War II)

KIARIVA Scene of Australian operations; Papua New Guinea (World War II)

LAMIA Scene of Australian operations; Greece (World War II)

BRIDGES Major General William Throsby Bridges (1861-1915). He wascommissioned into the New South Wales permanent artillery in 1885and was posted as the Chief Instructor to the School of Artillery in1893. Bridges was seconded to the British Army in 1899 and sawactive service in South Africa during the Boer War. In 1902. Back inAustralia, he was posted as the Assistant Quartermaster-General

and in 1909 became the first CGS of the Australian Army. In 1910he was chosen to establish a military college in Australia and RMC




opened at Duntroon in 1911 with Bridges as the Commandant. Hewas ordered to raise the AIF in 1914 and after service in Egypt helanded at Gallipoli with the 1st Division on 25th April 1915. He waswounded on 15th May and died three days later. Bridges was thefirst Australian Army officer to reach the rank of general and hisgrave lies in the grounds of the Royal Military College at Duntroon.

BUNA Scene of Australian operations (World War II) Battle of Buna; PapuaNew Guinea (World War II)

CAMPBELL Lieutenant Colonel J. A. Campbell (1842-1924). A former Britishsergeant-major he joined the Colonial Army in Western Australia;commissioned, he finished his career in 1902 as the ActingCommandant of the Commonwealth Military Forces in WesternAustralia.

DUNLOP Sir Edward "Weary" Dunlop (1907-93). A doctor in the Medical Corps of the2nd AIF, he became a POW of the Japanese. During his time in captivity he,like all the other allied medical officers, was responsible for saving the lives ofcountless sick and wounded fellow POWs.

GALLIPOLI Site of the ANZAC landings; Turkey, Sunday 25th April 1915(World War I)

GAZA RIDGE In recognition of AAOC (now RAAOC) personnel who served in thearea of Gaza Ridge, Egypt (World Wars I and II)

GONA Battle of Gona; Papua New Guinea (World War II)

HAMEL Battle of Hamel; on the Somme, France (World War I)

HOPKINS Major General Ronald Hopkins (1897 - 1990). An officer with theLight Horse in World War I and Commander of the 7th Divisioncavalry during 1940-41 and the Australian component of the BCOFin Japan after World War II. He was a Commandant of RMC andwas later responsible for significant developments in the RAAC.

IRWIN Major F.C. Irwin (d.1860). Commandant of the West AustraliaColonial Forces in 1836 and the acting Governor of the Colonyduring the 1840s.

BOUGAINVILLE Scene of Australian operations; Papua New Guinea (World War II)

KOMIATUM Komiatum Ridge; Papua New Guinea (World War II)

LATCHFORD Colonel E.W. Latchford (1889-1962).

KOKODA The Kokoda Track; Papua New Guinea (World War II)

LARRAKEYAH The Aboriginal tribe that lived in the area which is now Darwin.

RANGER The Barrack's original occupants were the Ballarat Volunteer RifleRegiment, better known as the "Ballarat Rangers".

LAVARACK Lieutenant General Sir John Lavarack (1885-1957). A regular Armyofficer, he served with the 1st AIF on the Western Front. Betweenthe wars he was a Commandant of RMC, Director of MilitaryOperations and Intelligence and a CGS. During World War II hecommanded the 7th Division, was GOC Cyrenaica Command,Commander of I Corps and he commanded the 1st AustralianArmy in Queensland. After the War he served a term as the

Governor of Queensland.




LEEUWIN HMAS Leeuwin was, from 1926, used as a drill hall and as theheadquarters for the District Naval Officer at Fremantle. After WorldWar II it was mostly employed as a base for the training of reservesand national servicemen, and in 1959 it became the site for theNavy's junior recruit training. The establishment was de-commissioned as a RAN Ship on the 11th November 1986.

LONE PINE Scene of Australian operations; Gallipoli (World War I)

MAYGAR Lieutenant L.C. Maygar, VC (1872-1917). Joining the 5th VictorianMounted Rifles in 1891, he served as an officer in the South AfricanBoer War where in 1901 he was awarded the Victoria Cross for hisactions at Geelhoutboom. After the War he joined the 8th LightHorse Regiment and in 1914, with the 1st AIF, he was posted tothe 4th Light Horse Regiment. He served with the Regiment atGallipoli and then in the Middle East, as the Regiment's CO, wherehe was killed in action during the battle of Beersheba.

MENIN Battle of the Menin Road ridge; Belgium (World War I)

MILNE BAY The Battle of Milne Bay; Papua New Guinea (World War II)

MONT ST QUETIN Battle of Mont St Quetin; France (World War I)

NORRIS Major General Sir Frank Norris (1893-1984). Director-General ofArmy Medical Services over the period 1948-55. He wasresponsible for the purchase of the property for the School of ArmyHealth at Healesville in 1951.

PALMER Brigadier E.L. Palmer (1923-). Director-General of Supply for theArmy over the period 1976-77 and Honorary Colonel for theRAAOC 1978-90.

PASSCHENDALE Battle of Passchendale; Belgium (World War I)

PATERSON Major William Paterson (1755-1810). An officer in the New South

Wales Corps; his appointments included Detachment Commanderat Norfolk Island, Administrator and later, Lieutenant-Governor ofthe Colony of New South Wales. In 1840 he was ordered toTasmania to found two settlements, York Town and what is nowLaunceston.

ROBERTSON Lieutenant General Sir Horace Robertson (1894-1960). A graduateof the second class from RMC, 1914, he served with the 10th LightHorse Regiment during World War I. Between the Wars hispostings included DMA at RMC and his postings during World WarII included Commander of the 1st Australian Armoured Divisionand the 6th Australian Division. At the War's end he held the post ofC-in-C of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan.

ROMANI Battle of Romani; Sinai (World War I)

SALAMAUA Battle of Salamaua; Papua New Guinea (World War II)

SANANANDA Battle of Sanananda; Papua New Guinea (World War II)

SIMPSON Major General C.H. Simpson (1894-1964). Commissioned in1912, he served in the Signal Corps during World War I andin 1940 was appointed as the Chief Signals Officer in 1stAustralian Corps. Later, during World War II, he became theSignals Officer-in-Chief of the Allied Land Forces.

SOMME Battle of the Somme; France (World War I)




TAYLOR Major General K.J. Taylor (1929 -). Commissioned in1950, into the Royal Australian Corps of Signals, he servedin both the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

TIMOR Scene of Australian guerrilla operations (World War II)

TOBRUK The Siege of Tobruk; Libya (World War II)

VICTORIA Queen Victoria (1837-1901)

WATERLOO Battle of Waterloo; Belgium (1815)

WITTON Witton Manor; a boarding house that stood on the Barrack'spresent location.

Unit Lines

BALIKPAPAN Scene of Australian amphibious operations; Borneo (World War II)

BARCE Scene of Australian operations; Libya (World War II)

BIEN HOA Scene of Australian operations; South Vietnam

CHAU PHA Battle of Chau Pha; South Vietnam

CHAUVEL Lieutenant General Sir Harry Chauvel (1865-1945). Acommissioned officer in the Queensland MountedInfantry (QMI) he transferred to the QueenslandPermanent Military Forces in 1896. He commandedboth the QMI and the 7

th Commonwealth Light Horse in the

South African Boer War and the 1st Light Horse Brigadeduring World War I. His commands in the Middle Eastincluded the 1st Australian Division, the ANZAC MountedDivision, and the Desert Mounted Corps. After the war heheld the post of CGS.

CORAL Battle of Coral; South Vietnam

ES SALT Battle of Es Salt; Palestine (World War I)

GALLIPOLI Site of the ANZAC landings; Turkey, 25th April 1915 (World War I)

HERAKLION Area of Australian Operations; Crete (World War II)

JORDAN Area of Australian Light Horse operations (World War I)

KAPYONG Battle of Kapyong; Korea

KOEPANG Battle of Koepang; Timor (World War II)

LONG HAI Long Hai Hills; scene of Australian operations; South Vietnam

LONG TAN Battle of Long Tan; South Vietnam

MALAYA Scene of Australian operations during World War II, and theMalayan Emergency

McKECHNIE Lieutenant Colonel A.F.C. McKechnie (1901-1975). Anofficer in the RAE militia. During World War II he servedin the Middle East and New Guinea; after the War, withthe CMF, he went on to become the CO WesternCommand RAEME Training Depot and OC 2nd Medium

Workshops.




McKINLAY Colonel J.L. McKinlay (1894-1984). A signaller wholanded at ANZAC Cove on 25th April 1915. DuringWorld War II he held a posting as a corps staff officerand later, after the War, became the first ColonelCommandant for the Signal Corps in Western Australia.

MOUNT OLYMPUS Scene of operations by Australian Signallers; Greece (WorldWar II)

POZIERS Battle of Poziers; France (World War I)

RETIMO Area of Australian operations; Crete (World War II)

SAMICHON Samichon Valley; Scene of Australian operations; Korea

TOBRUK Siege of Tobruk; Libya (World War II)

VERNON Three generations of the Vernon family all served ascommanding officer of the 1st/15th Royal New South WalesLancers throughout its lineage: W.L. Vernon, 1903-06; hisson H.V, 1921-26 and grandson P.V, 1952-52.

VINCENT Major General D. Vincent (1916-1995). A Signal Corpsofficer, he served in South Vietnam as the Commander 1stTask Force and later as the Commander Australian MilitaryForces Vietnam.

VUNG TAU Location of the Australian Logistic Support Group; South Vietnam

WALER The breed of horse employed by the Australian Light Horse inWorld War I.




CHAPTER 6

Corps and Regimental Badges of the Australian Army

Corps and Regimental Badges of the Australian Army

6.01 The majority of the corps badges within the Australian Army have been copied from the BritishArmy and this is to be expected, for the corps themselves were derived from the British. There are,

however, two misconceptions about badges; one deals with the prefix title ROYAL and the other concernsthe type of crown that ensigns the badges.

6.02 There is a thought that corps and regiments prefixed with the title ROYAL are noticeable as suchbecause of the incorporation of the Crown within their badges; this is not so. Prior to 1751 many units wore theArms of their commanders in their dress, but in that year King George II issued a warrant which stated,amongst other things, that “no colonel (is) to put his Arms, Crest, Device or Livery on any part of theAppointments of the Regiment under his command”

1. The warrant went on to state that the King’s Cypher

and Crown were to be placed on the front of caps; in other words, the Crown was incorporated into the badges tosignify that the troops were the soldiers of the King and not the colonels.

6.03 There are six corps that have the Crown incorporated within their badges and yet do not carry theprefix ROYAL. These are the Australian Army Aviation Corps, Australian Intelligence Corps, Australian ArmyCatering Corps, Australian Army Legal Corps, Australian Army Psychology Corps and the AustralianArmy Band Corps. The Australian Army Public Relations Service and the university regiments can also beadded to this list. Whilst there are no such examples within the Australian Army, there are a number of units withinthe British Army that have the prefix ROYAL and yet have no crown within their badges (eg. 10th RoyalHussars, the Royal Scots, the Royal Sussex Regiment and the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers).

6.04 The current style of Crown on our badge is commonly referred to as the ‘Queen’s Crown’ and is basedon the St Edward Crown. Badges worn pre-1954 had the ‘King’s Crown’, based on the Imperial Crown. Allsovereigns select their own style of crown design for their cipher and it is this crown which adorns militaryaccoutrements throughout their reign. All British sovereigns since King Charles II have been crowned with theSt Edward Crown so therefore, there is no guarantee that our badges will revert back to the ‘Kings Crown’on the succession of Prince Charles to the throne.

6.05 The Royal Cipher which appears in the badges of the Royal Australian Engineers, The RoyalQueensland Regiment and The Royal Australian Corps of Transport, consists of the letters E and R, and theRoman Numerical II (2). E is for Elizabeth, whilst the R is Regina (Latin for ‘queen’). R is also used in kings’ciphers, for Rex (king). E II R: Elizabeth the Second, Queen.

6.06 The Most Noble Order of the Garter appears in only two Australian Army corps badges, that of theRoyal Australian Engineers and the Royal Australian Army Ordnance Corps. The Garter is made of dark bluevelvet upon which is borne, in gold lettering, the motto of the Order: HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE (EVIL TOHIM WHO EVIL THINKS)

2. A circle or strap with a buckle inscribed with a regimental title, or motto, is not a

Garter. In badges the Garter may only be correctly described as such when it contains the motto of theOrder (it should be noted that the motto does not belong to the corps that incorporate the Order withintheir badges). There are a number of varying translations for the Order’s motto which are not incorrect

but the one mentioned here is accepted by the College of Arms as being that which is nearest to theoriginal intention.

6.07 There is a misconception too that the Royal Australian Armoured Corps adopted the tradition ofwearing white metal regimental badges from the British Army. In fact this is a purely Australian custom. There isno tradition of white metal badges for armoured units in the British Army. The badges of both the Royal TankRegiment and the Royal Armoured Corps are white metal but the badges of the Household Cavalry are brassand most of the British armoured cavalry regiments badges are a mixture of brass and white metal(Queen’s Own Hussars and the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards to name two). On the other hand there are a goodnumber of British Infantry regiments that wear white metal badges; the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders,the Gurkha regiments, and the Parachute Regiment are a few examples.

6.08 It was Brigadier McCarthur-Onslow, Commander of the 4th Australian Armoured Brigade in 1944,

who suggested the white metal badge, the aim being to give the Corps a distinctive badge and one in linewith the British Royal Armoured Corps badge.1. T.J. Edwards Regimental Badges p. 12




6.09 The badge of the Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps (RAANC) is also white metal. The colourwas adopted from the British Army nursing badge which goes back to 1902. In that year the Queen Alexandra’sImperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS) was inaugurated and its badge was designed by QueenAlexandra herself; the badge was called a “cape medallion”

3 and was worn on the nurses’ scarlet capes.

The medallion was made of silver and contained, in the design, the Danish Cross (the Queen was a DanishPrincess).

6.10 The Queen Alexandra Royal Nursing Corps (QARNC) was formed from the QAIMNS in 1949 and theCorps carried on the tradition of the silver badge; the Corps also uses the colour silver in its badges of rank. The

current RAANC badge was introduced into the Australian Army in 1953, adopting the QARNC tradition of silver; thescarlet backing represents the nurses capes on which the original medallion was worn.

6.11 Then there is the badge of the Sydney University Regiment, which happens to be black. In 1929His Majesty King George V approved of the affiliation between this Regiment and the 60th Regiment theKing’s Royal Rifle Corps (hence the bugle horn within the badge). As with most rifle regiments in the BritishArmy, the Corps’ regimental badge, badges of rank and the like were black. The tradition of the affiliation isstill carried on by the Regiment.

6.12 In most cases the collar badges of the corps and regiments are just smaller versions of the head-dressbadge (but in the majority of cases they are manufactured in pairs so when worn the badges face into thecentre of the body); however, there are four exceptions. There are two different designs for the collar badge ofthe Royal Regiment of Australian artillery (one for warrant officers class two and below, and one for the officersand warrant officers class one); there are two different versions of the badge for the Royal AustralianEngineers (for the two rank structures as explained above for the gunners), there is a different design forthe Infantry Corps badge, and the Chaplains’ Department wear a cross. The gunners’ grenade hasseven flames and the sappers’ nine; the reason for the different number of flames is simply todifferentiate between the two Corps.

6.13 There are some long and complex histories behind many of the corps and regimental badges within theAustralian Army. The aim here is not to go into these histories but rather simply to explain the design and make-upof the badges as they are today, along with a very brief background to the corps or regiment.

6.14 References to the date on which a particular badge was adopted by a corps or regiment are based on theoriginal design of the current badge proper and not to the change of Crown (eg. the badge of the Royal AustralianArtillery was adopted in 1949 but the design of the Crown changed in 1954; the date given in the text is 1949).

The Australian Army Badge

6.15 In 1902 a badge was urgently sought for the Australian contingents raised after Federation for service inSouth Africa during the Boer War. The most widely accepted version of the origin of this badge is theone that attributes the selection of its design to a British officer, Major General Sir Edward Hutton, thenewly appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Australian Forces at that time.

6.16 Hutton had earlier received as a gift from Brigadier General Joseph Gordon, a military acquaintance oflong standing, a ‘Trophy-of-Arms’ comprising mounted cut and thrust swords and triangular Martini Henribayonets which were arranged in a semi-circle around the Crown. To General Hutton the shield was symbolicof the co-operation of the naval and military forces of the Commonwealth.

6.17 The original design which was created and produced in haste in 1902 was modified in 1904.This badge carried a scroll inscribed with the wording AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEALTH MILITARYFORCES and it was worn throughout both World Wars. There were a number of variations to the badge; aspecial version was struck for the coronation of King Edward VII in 1902 and there was a design which had thewording AUSTRALIAN INSTRUCTIONAL CORPS in the scroll.

6.18 In 1949 when corps and regimental badges were re-introduced into the Army, the inscription on the scroll waschanged to read AUSTRALIAN MILITARY FORCES. In 1969 the badge went through another alteration with theintroduction of the Federation Star and the inscription was once more changed to read AUSTRALIA; thisdesign was never fully issued.

2. Letter to the author from the Garter Principal King of Arms, College of Arms, dated 30th September 19953. British Nursing Badges p. 73




6.19 In 1991 a new design was produced which is now on issue. The ‘Rising Sun’ badge was originallyentitled the General Service Badge but it is now officially called the Australian Army Badge. It will,however, always be referred to as the ‘Rising Sun’.

The Trophy The Original Badge

The 1904 design The 1949 design

The Australian Army Badge Generals Badge

6.20 A semi-circle of rays protruding out and away from the Crown; below, a scroll inscribed with the titleTHE AUSTRALIAN ARMY

Generals Badge

Crossed sword and baton within a wreath, ensigned with the Royal Crest (a lion guardant upon the Crown).This badge is worn by all general ranks.




The Royal Crest

A lion guardant upon the Crown. This badge is worn by brigadiers and colonels.

The Royal Crest

The Royal Military College (Duntroon)

The Royal Military College (Duntroon)

Crossed boomerangs within a scroll, bearing the Corps of Staff Cadets motto DOCTRINA VIMPROMOVET (KNOWLEDGE PROMOTES STRENGTH), atop another scroll inscribed with the titleROYAL MILITARY COLLEGE. The whole surmounted with the Crown.

The College opened in 1911 and the current badge was approved in 1912.




Royal Australian Armoured Corps

A World War I Mark IV tank above a boomerang, inscribed with AUSTRALIA, backed by awreath and crossed lances. The whole surmounted by the Crown.

The Australian Tank Corps was formed in 1928 and was re-named the Australian Armoured Corpsin 1941, receiving the prefix ROYAL in 1948. The current badge came into service in 1949.

1st Armoured Regiment (Tank)

A World War I Mark V tank above a boomerang, inscribed with the motto PARATUS(PREPARED), and backed by crossed lances and a circle (bearing the name AUSTRALIA) which issurmounted with the Crown.

The Regiment was raised in 1949. The current badge was approved in 1951 but was not

manufactured until 1955.




2nd Cavalry Regiment (Reconnaissance)

2nd Cavalry Regiment (Reconnaissance)

A wedge-tailed eagle carrying a lance and pennant inscribed with the Regimental motto

COURAGE.

The Regiment was raised in 1967 from elements of 2nd/14th Queensland Mounted Infantryand the 4th/19th Prince of Wales Lances. The current badge was introduced in 1967.




1st/15th Royal New South Wales Lancers (Reconnaissance)

1st/ 15th Royal New South Wales Lancers(Reconnaissance)

The Carrington family Crest (an elephant’s head with coronet and three fleur-de-lis, upon awreath) backed by crossed lancers; below, a wreath of waratah and a scroll bearing the Regiment’s title.

The Unit was raised in 1948 as the result of an amalgamation of the 1st and the 15th Light HorseRegiments which were themselves raised in 1903 and 1918 respectively from earlier units. The badge (the design ofwhich goes back to the Sydney Light Horse Volunteers, a predecessor of the 1st LHR) was first worn in 1889 butwas replaced by the General Service Badge during World War II. The badge was re-introduced in 1948.




2nd/14th Light Horse Regiment (Queensland Mounted Infantry)(Reconnaissance/APC)

An emu within a circle (inscribed with the Regiment’s title); below, a scroll bearing the Regimentalmotto (FORWARD). The whole surmounted by the Crown.

The Regiment was raised in 1930 by the amalgamation of the 2nd Light Horse which can traceits history back to 1860 and the 14th Light Horse which was raised in 1918. The current badge was introduced in1989.

4th/19th Prince of Wales Light Horse (Reconnaissance)

The Prince of Wales’ plume, coronet and motto ICH DIEN (I SERVE). Below, two rampant horsesabove a boomerang bearing the Regiment’s title.

An amalgamation of units in 1862 saw the formation of the Prince of Wales Regiment Light Horse(Hussars). The 4th Australian Light Horse was raised in 1914. An amalgamation in 1948 between the 19th LightHorse and the 2nd/4th Armoured Regiment resulted in the raising of the present Unit. The current

badge was introduced in 1949.




12th/16th Hunter River Lancers (APC)

The Carrington family Crest (an elephant’s head with coronet and three fleur-de-lis, upon awreath) backed by crossed lances. A scroll around the lower half of the badge bears the Regimental title.

The Lancers was formed in 1948 from the 16th Hunter River Lancers and the 12th New England LightHorse, both formed in 1918 from units which can trace their lineage back to the NSW Cavalry Troop raised in1854. The current badge was introduced in 1949.

B Squadron 3th/4th Cavalry Regiment (APC)

A scorpion and a boomerang, bearing the Regimental motto RESOLUTE, backed by awreath and ensigned with the Crown. The badge was that of 3rd Cavalry Regiment before the amalgamation.

The 3rd and 4th Cavalry Regiments were raised in 1967 and 1971 respectively, amalgamatingin 1981. The current badge is that of 3rd Cavalry Regiment, which was approved in 1977.




A Squadron 3rd/9th Light Horse (South Australian Mounted Rifles) (APC)

A Piping Shrike within an oval bearing the Regiment’s title, upon a scroll inscribed with the mottoNEC ASPERA TERRENT (NOR HARDSHIPS DETER). The whole surmounted by the Crown.

The Unit was raised in 1948 and the current badge was approved in 1949 but was notmanufactured until 1954.

A Squadron 10th Light Horse (Reconnaissance)

A black swan on the water; below, a boomerang bearing the Regimental motto PERCUTE ETPERCUTE VELOCITER (STRIKE AND STRIKE SWIFTLY), backed by crossed sabres. Above, theRegimental title (10 as a Roman Numeral) surmounted by the Crown.

The Regiment was established in 1914 from the 10th Western Australian Mounted Infantry butwas disbanded in 1919. The 25th Light Horse was re-designated as the 10th Light Horse Regiment in 1918.

The titled changed to the 10th Reconnaissance Battalion (WAMI) in 1940. The current title was adopted in 1976 andthe badge was approved in 1960.




The Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery

The Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery

A 9 pounder RML (rifled muzzle loader) with rammer; above, a scroll bearing both the RegimentalBattle Honour and motto UBIQUE (EVERYWHERE) surmounted by the Crown. Below, a scroll inscribed with the

Regiment’s second motto QUO FAS ET GLORIA DUCUNT (WHITHER RIGHT AND GLORY LEAD).

There are two different collar badges for the Regiment. One is the RAA Scroll worn by warrantofficers class two and below; the other is the seven flame grenade worn by officers and warrant officers classone. The Royal Australian Artillery was formed in August 1899, (17 months before Federation) from thePermanent Artillery of New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland (the Militia did not become a part of the RAAuntil 1936). The title Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery was granted by the Queen in 1963; the currentbadge was adopted in 1949.

Royal Australian Engineers

The Royal Cypher within the Garter (HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE - EVIL TO HIM WHO EVILTHINKS) enclosed in a laurel wreath. Below, a scroll inscribed with the Regiment’s title. The whole surmountedby the Crown.

There are two different designs of the RAE nine flame grenade collar badge, one for warrantofficers class two and below and a larger version of the grenade for officers and warrant officers class one.

The Corps of Australian Engineers was formed from the colonial engineer units in 1902 andre-designated as the Royal Australian Engineers in 1907 (the Militia units did not acquire the prefix ROYALuntil 1936). The current badge was adopted in 1930.




Royal Australian Corps of Signals

Royal Australian Corps of Signals

The figure of Mercury holding a caduceus in his left hand, with his right hand aloft, poised on aglobe of the world. Above the globe a scroll inscribed with the Corps motto CERTA CITO (SWIFT ANDSURE); below, a boomerang bearing the title AUSTRALIA. The whole surmounted by the Crown.

The Australian Corps of Signals was created in 1925 (taking over communications from theRoyal Australian Engineers); however, the Corps was in existence for a short period from 1906 until1912. The prefix ROYAL was granted in 1948.

The current badge was approved in 1950 but it was not manufactured until 1955.

Royal Australian Infantry Corps

Royal Australian Infantry Corps

Crossed Lee-Enfield .303 rifles backed by a wreath of wattle incorporating a scroll bearingthe Corps title. Ensigned with the Crown between the rifle barrels. The Corps collar badge is a Lee-Enfieldbayonet backed by a wreath of gum leaves.

The Corps, which is made up of a number of independent infantry Regiments (each with theirown history), was formed in 1948 and the current badge was introduced in 1955.




The Corps Collar Badge

The Royal Australian Regiment

A rampant kangaroo above a scroll, bearing the Regiment motto DUTY FIRST, backed by crossed LeeEnfield .303 rifles and enclosed by a wreath of wattle. Below, a boomerang inscribed with the Regimental title.The whole ensigned with the Crown.

The Regiment was formed in November 1948 from the 65th, 66th, and 67th Infantry Battalions whichwere themselves raised in October 1945. The Regiment was granted the prefix title ROYAL in March 1949and the present badge came into service in 1953.




51st Battalion The Far North Queensland Regiment

A kookaburra perched on a branch holding in its beak a snake, all within a circle inscribed with theRegimental motto DUCIT AMOR PATRIAE (LOVE OF COUNTRY LEADS ME) supported by a wreath ofBay; beneath a scroll bearing the Unit’s title. The whole surmounted by a crown.

The 51 st Battalion AIF was raised in 1916, drawing its troops from the 11th Battalion and generalreinforcements. In 1943 it amalgamated with the 31 st Battalion The Kennedy Regiment but the two units split in 1945and the Battalion was disbanded in 1946.

The Unit was re-raised in 1950 and became a Battalion of the Royal Queensland Regiment in 1965 andwas re-designated the 51st Battalion the Far North Queensland Regiment in 1985.

The current badge was introduced in 1936 and the scroll was changed to reflect the new title in 1985.

The Royal Queensland Regiment

The Royal Cypher within a circle, inscribed with the Regimental title, supported by a wreath of wattle;below, a scroll bearing the Regimental motto PRO ARIS-ET FOCIS (ALWAYS READY TO DEFEND). Thewhole surmounted by the Crown. The Regiment was formed in 1960 from a number of regionalregiments. The current badge was approved in 1962 but was not manufactured until 1966.




The Royal New South Wales Regiment

Within a wreath of waratahs the Cross of St George, charged with a representation of the SouthernCross and a lion passant guardant; below, a scroll inscribed with the Regiment title. The whole ensigned bythe Crown.

The Regiment was formed in 1960 from a number of regional regiments. The current badge wasapproved in 1962.

The Royal Victoria Regiment

Crossed 7.62 SLRs (self-loading rifles) backed by a V for Victoria; below, a scroll bearing the titleVICTORIA. The whole ensigned with the Crown.

The Regiment was formed in 1960 from a number of regional regiments. The current badge wasapproved in 1962 but was not issued until 1967.




The Royal South Australia Regiment

A six-pointed star within a circle bearing the Regimental title; below, a scroll inscribed with theRegimental motto PRO PATRIA (FOR COUNTRY). The whole surmounted by the Crown.

The Regiment was formed in 1960 but its origin can be traced back to the 10th Infantry Battalion (theAdelaide Rifles) which was raised in 1860. The current badge was approved in 1963.

The Royal Western Australia Regiment

A white swan on the water backed by crossed 7.62 SLRs (self loading rifles) and encircled by a wreathof wattle; below, a scroll, inscribed with the Regimental motto VIGILANT, and a boomerang. The whole ensignedwith the crown.

The Regiment was formed in 1960 from a number of regional regiments. The current badgewas approved in 1962 but it was not issued until 1963.




The Royal Tasmania Regiment

A lion passant within a circle inscribed with the Regimental title and a wreath; below, a scrollinscribed with the Regimental motto PRO ARIS ET FOCIS (ALWAYS READY TO DEFEND). Backed byan eight pointed star, the topmost point being displaced by the Crown.

The Regiment was formed in 1960 and the current badge was approved in 1963 but wasnot issued until 1967.

The Special Air Service Regiment

The Sword Excalibur with flames issuing upwards from below the hilt; across and in front of theblade a scroll inscribed with the Regimental motto WHO DARES WINS (the badge is at times incorrectlyreferred to as the ‘winged dagger’). Raised as a Company in 1957 the Unit became a part of the Royal

Australian Regiment in 1958 and was then established as a Regiment in its own right in 1964. The currentbadge was introduced in 1966.




The Northwest Mobile Force

A frill-necked lizard atop two crossed boomerangs; the upper inscribed with the Unit title, the lowerbearing the motto EVER VIGILANT. Between the boomerangs the Regimental Colour Patch, based on thatworn by 2nd/ 1st North Australian Observer Unit of World War II. The Force was raised in 1981 and its role and areaof responsibility are similar to that of the 2nd/ 1st North Australia Observer Unit. The current badge was approvedin 1986.

The Pilbara Regiment

The Pilbara Regiment

An emu, backed by crossed Lee Enfield .303 rifles, enclosed within a wreath of Sturt’s Desert Pea.Below, a scroll bearing the Regimental title; above, a scroll inscribed with the motto MINTU WANTA(ALWAYS ALERT). The Regiment is the only unit within the Australian Army to have an Aboriginal motto.

The Regiment was raised in 1985 from the 5th Independent Rifle Company, which was raised in

1982. The current badge was introduced in 1985.




The Commando Regiment

A dagger through a boomerang inscribed with the Regimental motto STRIKE SWIFTLY.

The Regiment was formed in 1981 from 1 and 2 Commando Companies and 126 SignalsSquadron. The current badge was issued in 1956.

Australian Army Aviation Corps

Australian Army Aviation Corps

An eagle standing on a pair of crossed swords joined by a wreath of wattle, both within another wattlewreath. Below, a scroll inscribed with the Corps’ motto VIGILANCE. The whole ensigned with the Crown.

The Corps was formed from a number of squadrons and flights in 1968. A badge with the inscription

Australian Army Air Corps was approved in 1963 but it was never manufactured. The current badge wasapproved in 1968.




Royal Australian Corps of Transport

Royal Australian Corps of Transport

The Royal Cypher within a circle inscribed with the Corps’ title, enclosed by a laurel wreath;below, another scroll inscribed with the Corps’ motto PAR ONERI (EQUAL TO THE TASK) and backedby the seven pointed Commonwealth Star, the topmost point surmounted by the Crown.

Formed in 1973 by an amalgamation of personnel from the Royal Australian Engineers and TheRoyal Australian Army Service Corps (the Corps it replaced). The badge was approved in the same year.

Australian Army Band Corps

Australian Army Band Corps

A lyrebird, backed by a lyre, standing on a pair of crossed swords within a laurel wreath; acrossthe swords a scroll inscribed with the words BAND CORPS. The whole ensigned with the Crown. TheCorps was raised in 1968 and the current badge was approved in 1970.




The Sydney University Regiment

The Sydney University Regiment

The Arms of the University of Sydney (a lion passant guardant below the Book of Learning and above a StGeorge Cross charged with a representation of the Southern Cross and a bugle horn) within a circle inscribed withthe Regiment’s title. Protruding from the circle the Waratahs of New South Wales, the Rose of England, theThistle of Scotland, the Leek of Wales and the Shamrock of Ireland. The whole within an octagon and ensignedwith the Crown.

The Regiment was raised in 1900 as the University Volunteer Rifle Corps but it was re-designated asthe Sydney University Scouts in 1903 and became a regiment in 1927. The current badge was introduced in 1930.

The Queensland University Regiment

The Shield of the University of Queensland (the Book of Learning backed by a Maltese Cross; below,a scroll inscribed with the University motto SCIENTIA AC LABORE - THROUGH KNOWLEDGE AND HARDWORK). Below the Shield a scroll inscribed with the Regimental title; the whole surmounted by the Crown.

The Regiment was formed in 1933 and the current badge was originally approved in 1949 but was notissued until 1955.




The University of New South Wales Regiment

University of New South Wales Regiment

The Shield of the University of New South Wales (a St George Cross charged with a lion passantguardant and a representation of the Southern Cross; above, the Book of Learning, inscribed with themotto SCIENTIA - KNOWLEDGE) above a boomerang inscribed with the Regimental title and a wreath ofwattle. The whole surmounted by the Crown and backed by a pair of crossed Lee-Enfield bayonets.

The Regiment was formed in 1927. The current badge was first issued in 1960 and replaced witha similar design (the same badge, less the crossed bayonets) in 1966. The present badge was re-introduced in1988.

The Melbourne University Regiment

The Shield of the Melbourne University (a winged angel carrying a wreath; behind, arepresentation of the Southern Cross and above, a scroll inscribed with the motto POSTERA CRESCAMLAUDE - I SHALL GROW IN THE ESTEEM OF THE FUTURE GENERATIONS). Below the shield ascroll bearing the Regimental title; the whole surmounted by the Crown.

The Regiment was formed in 1948 and the current badge, which was introduced in the same year, is basedon the Melbourne University Rifles badge of 1930.




The Monash University Regiment

The Shield of the Monash University (the Book of Learning and the wreath and sword from the Coat ofArms of Sir John Monash; below a chevron, the Southern Cross and a scroll inscribed with the University mottoANCORA IMPARO - I AM STILL LEARNING) adorned with a laurel wreath and ensigned with a scroll inscribedwith the Regiment’s name, MONASH, and surmounted by the Crown.

Raised as a Company in 1968, the Unit became a Regiment in 1970 and in the same year the current badgewas introduced.

The Adelaide University Regiment

The Adelaide University Regiment

The Adelaide University Emblem (in the Chief of the shield the Southern Cross, backed by horizontalstripes representing the colour blue; in the lower Dexter the Book of Learning backed by a Quarter of yellow- represented by black dots, and a Quarter of white) supported by the initials of the Regiment (AUR). Below, ascroll bearing the motto SAPIENTIA OMNIA VINCIT (WISDOM CONQUERS ALL). The whole surmountedby the Crown.

The Regiment was formed in 1948 and the current badge was introduced in 1949.




The Western Australia University Regiment

The Shield of the University of Western Australia (two Books of Learning above a swan) abovea scroll inscribed with the Regimental title and enclosed in a laurel wreath. Above, a scroll with the motto SEEKWISDOM and surmounted by the Crown.

Originally the Perth University Regiment the Unit was re-designated in 1949. The current badgewas approved in 1950 but was not issued until 1955.




CHAPTER 7

Reserved




CHAPTER 8

Unit Formations

1st Recruit Training Battalion (Kapooka)

1st Recruit Training Battalion (Kapooka)

Crossed Steyr F88 rifles backed by a laurel wreath; below, three scrolls, two bearing theBattalion’s name and the other with the Unit’s signature HOME OF THE SOLDIER. The whole ensigned withthe Crown (the scroll, HOME OF THE SOLDIER, is not a part of the official emblem).

Brigade/Task Force Formations

Brigade/Task Force FormationsThe number of the formation in Arabic above a boomerang bearing the word BRIGADE (or

TASK FORCE) and backed by a pair of crossed broad swords; the whole ensigned with the Crown (in thisexample the formation is the 3rd Brigade).




Headquarters 1st Division

Headquarters 1st Division

A Kangaroo backed by a pair of crossed broad swords, the whole ensigned with the Arabicnumber one.




CHAPTER 9

Military Skills, Trade and Other Badges

9.01 There are many additional badges worn by officers and soldiers, representing both military skills andtrades, along with other special purpose badges. These badges are worn on general duty, ceremonial and messdress uniforms only.

Commendation Brooch

This represents a commander’s commendation which has been presented to the member foroutstanding performance in his/her duty. There are three levels of Commendation; a gold brooch for a Chiefof Army Commendation, silver for a General Officer commanding a command Commendation andbronze for Formation Commander Commendation. The design of the brooch is the Rising Sun backedby two crossed Mameluke swords on an oval background.

Infantry Combat Badge

Infantry Combat Badge

The badge is a 7.62mm SLR bayonet backed by a wreath of laurels. The ICB is awarded mainlyto infantrymen posted to a unit whilst on active service but in exceptional circumstances it may be awarded topersonnel from other corps posted to or serving with a battalion. The only exception to this was in SouthVietnam when all members of the Australian Army Training Team (AATV), regardless of corps, wereawarded the Badge.




Retired Members

Retired officers, with permission from the Chief of Army, are entitled to wear the letter “R” belowtheir rank on general duty, ceremonial and mess dress uniforms. Warrant officers and other ranks who have,or are about to take discharge may apply for permission to wear the shoulder title too.

Skill at Arms

The badge, a pair of crossed Lee Enfield .303 rifles, is awarded to soldiers who achieve thequalifying standard of shooting proficiency with small arms.




Army Top 20 Badge

Army Top 20 Badge

The badge is a pair of crossed Lee Enfield .303 rifles, backed by a wreath of laurel. It isawarded to members who qualify in the final 20 competitors at the Champion Shot for the Army annual

competition.

Sniper

The badge is a pair of crossed Lee Enfield .303 rifles, with the letter S (sniper) between the barrels.The badge is awarded to soldiers who qualify on the Infantry Snipers Course.




Physical Training Instructor

Physical Training Instructor

The letters PTI (physical training instructor) within a wreath, backed by a diamond.

Parachutist

A white parachute backed by a pair of drooping (pale blue) wings.

Parachutist (Special Air Service Regiment)

Parachutist(Special Air Service Regiment)

A parachute backed by a pair of spread wings.




Parachutist (3rd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment)

Parachutist (3rd Battalion,The Royal Australian Regiment)

A (pale blue) parachute backed by a pair of drooping wings, all with a maroon background. Thebadge is that of the 1st Australian Parachute Battalion of the 2nd AIF.

Parachutist (Commando)

Parachutist (Commando)

A parachute backed by a pair of (black) drooping wings on a green background.

Parachute Jump Instructor

A parachute within a wreath with a single wing; the whole surmounted by the Crown.



Musician

Musician

Below the Crown a lyre backed by oak leaves.

Drummer Piper

Piper Drummer

A set of bag pipes. A rope tensioned side drum

aac inst hbook - customs and traditions

Documents